If ever there was a moment in the history of the Church of G.o.d when it behooved Christians to bow down their whole moral being to this very lesson, it is the moment through which we are just now pa.s.sing. On all hands the divine authority, integrity, plenary inspiration and all-sufficiency of Holy Scripture are called in question. The word of G.o.d is openly insulted and flung aside. Its integrity is called in question, and that too in quarters where we should least expect it. At our colleges and universities our young men are continually a.s.sailed by infidel attacks upon the blessed word of G.o.d. Men who are in total spiritual blindness, and who therefore cannot possibly know anything whatever about divine things, and are utterly incompetent to give an opinion on the subject of Holy Scripture, have the cool audacity to insult the sacred volume, to p.r.o.nounce the five books of Moses an imposture, to a.s.sert that Moses never wrote them at all!
What is the opinion of such men worth? Not worth the weight of a feather. Who would think of going to a man who was born in a coal mine, and had never seen the sun, to get his judgment as to the properties of light, or the effect of the sun"s beams upon the human const.i.tution? Who would think of going to one who was born blind to get his opinion upon colors, or the effect of light and shade? Surely no one in his senses. Well, then, with how much more moral force, may we not ask, who would think of going to an unconverted man--a man dead in trespa.s.ses and sins--a man spiritually blind, wholly ignorant of things divine, spiritual, and heavenly--who would think for a moment of going to such a one for a judgment on the weighty question of Holy Scripture? And if such a one were audacious enough, in ignorant self-confidence, to offer an opinion on such a subject, what man in his sober senses would think of giving the slightest heed?
It will perhaps be said, "The ill.u.s.tration does not apply." Why not?
We admit it fails in force, but most certainly not in its moral application. Is it not a commonly received axiom amongst us that no man has any right to give an opinion on a subject of which he is totally ignorant? No doubt. Well, what does the blessed apostle say as to the unconverted man? We quote the whole context for the reader. It is morally grand, and its interest and value just now are unspeakable.
"And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of G.o.d. For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with enticing words of man"s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: _that your faith_"--mark these words, beloved reader--"_should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of G.o.d_. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught. But we speak the wisdom of G.o.d in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which G.o.d ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of this world knew; for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which G.o.d hath prepared for them that love Him. _But G.o.d hath revealed them to us by His Spirit_;"--otherwise they could not possibly be known;--"for the Spirit, searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of G.o.d. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so _the things of G.o.d knoweth no man_, but the Spirit of G.o.d. Now we"--all true believers, all G.o.d"s children--"have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of G.o.d; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of G.o.d.
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man"s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual"--or, communicating spiritual things through a spiritual medium. "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of G.o.d; neither can he know them,"--be he ever so wise and learned,--"because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. ii. 1-16).
We dare not offer an apology for giving so lengthened an extract from the word of G.o.d. We deem it invaluable, not only because it proves that it is only by divine teaching that divine things can be understood, but also because it completely withers up all man"s pretensions to give judgment as to Scripture. If the natural man cannot know the things of the Spirit of G.o.d, then it is perfectly plain that all infidel attacks upon the word of G.o.d are absolutely unworthy of the very smallest attention. In fact, all infidel writers, be they ever so clever, ever so wise, ever so learned, are put out of court; they are not to be listened to for a moment. The judgment of an unconverted man in reference to the Holy Scriptures is more worthless than the judgment of an uneducated plowman as to the use of the differential calculus, or the truth of the Copernican system. As to each, we have only to say, he knows nothing whatever about the matter.
His thoughts are absolutely good for nothing.
But how truly delightful and refreshing to turn from man"s worthless notions, and see the way in which our blessed Lord Jesus Christ prized and used the Holy Scriptures! In His conflict with Satan, He appeals three times over to the book of Deuteronomy. "_It is written_" is His one simple and unanswerable reply to the suggestions of the enemy. He does not reason. He does not argue or explain. He does not refer to His own personal feelings, evidences, or experiences. He does not argue from the great facts of the opened heavens, the descending Spirit, the voice of the Father--precious and real as all these things were. He simply takes His stand upon the divine and eternal authority of the Holy Scriptures, and of that portion of the Scriptures in particular which modern infidels have audaciously attacked. He uses as His authority that which they are not afraid to p.r.o.nounce an imposture! How dreadful for them! What will be their end, unless they repent?
But not only did the Son of G.o.d--Himself, as G.o.d, the Author of every line of Holy Scripture--use the word of G.o.d as His only weapon against the enemy, but He made it also the basis and the material of His public ministry. When His conflict in the wilderness was over, "He returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of Him through all the region round about. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and, _as His custom was_, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and _stood up for to read_"--_His custom was to read the Scriptures publicly_. "And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias." Here He puts His seal upon the prophet Isaiah, as before upon the law of Moses. "And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke iv.).
Let us turn now to that most solemn parable of the rich man and Lazarus, at the close of Luke xvi., in which we have a solemn testimony from the Master"s own lips to the integrity, value and surpa.s.sing importance of "Moses and the Prophets"--the very portions of the divine Word which infidels impiously a.s.sail. The rich man in torment--alas, no longer rich, but miserably and eternally poor!--entreats Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brethren, lest they also should come into that place of torment. Mark the reply!
Mark it, all ye infidels, rationalists, and skeptics! Mark it, all ye who are in danger of being deluded and turned aside by the impudent and blasphemous suggestions of infidelity! "Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the Prophets; _let them hear them_." Yes; "hear them"--hear those very writings which infidels tell us are not divinely inspired at all, but doc.u.ments palmed upon us by impostors pretending to inspiration. a.s.suredly the rich man knew better; indeed, the devil himself knows better. There is no thought of calling in question the genuineness of "Moses and the Prophets;" but perhaps "if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent." Hear the weighty rejoinder! "And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead."
Now we must confess we rejoice exceedingly in the grandeur of this testimony. Nothing can be clearer, nothing higher, nothing more thoroughly confirmatory as to the supreme authority and divine integrity of "Moses and the Prophets." We have the blessed Lord Himself setting His seal to the two grand divisions of Old Testament Scripture; and hence we may with all possible confidence commit our souls to the authority of these holy writings; and not only to Moses and the Prophets, but to the whole canon of inspiration, inasmuch as Moses and the Prophets are so largely and so constantly quoted everywhere, are so intimately, yea, indissolubly, bound up with every part of the New Testament, that all must stand or fall together.
But we must pa.s.s on, and turn for a moment to the last chapter of Luke--that precious section which contains "the great commission"
whereof we speak. We might refer with profit and blessing to those occasions in which our blessed Lord, in His interviews with Pharisees, Sadducees, and lawyers, ever and only appeals to the Holy Scriptures.
In short, whether in conflict with men or devils, whether speaking in private or in public, whether for His public ministry or for His private walk, we find the perfect Man, the Lord from heaven, always putting the very highest honor upon the writings of Moses and the Prophets, thus commending them to us in all their divine integrity, and giving us the very fullest and most blessed encouragement to commit our souls, for time and eternity, with absolute confidence, to those peerless writings.
But we turn to Luke xxiv., and listen to the glowing words uttered in the ears of the two bewildered travelers to Emmaus--words which are the sure and blessed remedy for all bewilderment--the perfect solution of every honest difficulty--the divine and all-satisfying answer to every upright inquiry. We do not quote the words of the perplexed disciples; but here is the Master"s reply. "Then said He unto them, O fools and slow of heart to believe _all that the prophets have spoken_!" Alas! nowadays a man is counted a fool if he does believe all that the prophets have spoken. In many learned circles, yea, and in not a few religious circles likewise, the man who avows--as every true man ought--his hearty belief in every line of Holy Scripture, is almost sure to be met with a sneer of contempt. It is deemed clever to doubt the genuineness of Scripture,--fatal, detestable cleverness, from which may the good Lord deliver us!--cleverness which is sure to lead the soul that is ensnared by it down into the dark and dreary abyss of atheism, and the darker and more dreary abyss of h.e.l.l. From all such cleverness, we again say, from the profoundest depths of our moral being, may G.o.d, in His mercy, deliver us and all our young people!
Beloved reader, have we not much cause to bless the Lord for these words of His addressed to His poor perplexed ones on their way to Emmaus? They may seem severe; but it is the necessary severity of a pure, a perfect, and a divinely wise love. "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And"--mark these words!--"beginning at _Moses and all the Prophets_, He expounded unto them _in all the Scriptures_ the things concerning Himself." He Himself--all homage to His glorious person!--is the divine centre of all the things contained in the Scriptures from cover to cover. He is the golden chain that binds into one marvelous and magnificent whole every part of the inspired volume, from Genesis to Revelation. Hence the man that touches a single section of the sacred canon is guilty of the heinous sin of seeking to overthrow the word of G.o.d; and of such a man even charity itself must say he knows neither the Christ of G.o.d nor G.o.d Himself. The man who dares to tamper in any way with the word of G.o.d has taken the first step on that inclined plane that leads inevitably down to eternal perdition. Let men beware, then, how they speak against the Scriptures; and if some _will_ speak, let others beware how they listen. If there were no infidel listeners, there would be few infidel lecturers. How awful to think that there should be either the one or the other in this our highly favored land! May G.o.d have mercy upon them, and open their eyes ere it be too late! Five minutes in h.e.l.l will quash forever all the infidel theories that ever were propounded in this world. Oh, the egregious folly of infidelity!
We return to our chapter, which furnishes one more proof of the place a.s.signed by our risen Lord to the Holy Scriptures. After having manifested Himself in infinite grace and tranquilizing power to His troubled disciples, having shown them His hands and His feet, and a.s.sured them of His personal ident.i.ty by eating in their presence, "He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that _all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms_, concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus _it is written_."
Here again we have the divine seal put upon all the grand divisions of the Old Testament. This is most comforting and strengthening for all pious lovers of Scripture. To find our Lord Himself on all occasions, and under all circ.u.mstances, referring to Scripture, using it at all times and for all purposes, feeding upon it Himself and commending it to others, wielding it as the sword of the Spirit, bowing to its holy authority in all things, appealing to it as the only perfect standard, test and touchstone, the only infallible guide for man in this world, the only unfailing light amid all the surrounding moral gloom--all this is comforting and encouraging in the very highest degree, and it fills our hearts with deepest praise to the Father of mercies who has so provided for us in all our weakness and need.
Here we might close this branch of our subject, but we feel bound to furnish our readers with two more uncommonly fine ill.u.s.trations of our thesis; one from the Acts, and one from the Epistles. In Acts xxiv.
the apostle Paul, in his address to Felix, thus expresses himself as to the ground of his faith: "But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the G.o.d of my fathers, _believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets_." So, then, he reverently believed in Moses and the Prophets. He fully accepted the Old Testament Scriptures as the solid foundation of his faith, and as the divine authority for his entire course. Now how did Paul know that the Scriptures were given of G.o.d?
He knew it in the only way in which any one can know it, namely, by divine teaching. G.o.d alone can give the knowledge that the Holy Scriptures are His own very revelation to man. If He does not give it, no one can; if He does, no one need. If I want human evidence to accredit the word of G.o.d, it is not the word of G.o.d to me. The authority on which I receive it is higher than the Word itself.
Supposing I could by reason or human learning work my way to the rational conclusion that the Bible is the word of G.o.d, then my faith would merely stand in the wisdom of man, and not in the power of G.o.d.
Such a faith is worthless; it does not link me with G.o.d, and therefore leaves me unsaved, unblessed, uncertain. It leaves me without G.o.d, without Christ, without hope. Saving faith is believing what G.o.d says because _He_ says it, and this faith is wrought in the soul by the Holy Spirit. Intellectual faith is a cold, lifeless, worthless faith, which only deceives and puffs up; it never can save, sanctify, or satisfy.
We turn now to 2 Tim. iii. 14-17. The aged apostle, at the close of his marvelous career, from his prison at Rome, looking back at the whole of his ministry, looking around at the failure and ruin so sadly apparent on every side, looking forward to the terrible consummation of the "last days," and looking beyond all to "the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give _in that day_," thus addresses his beloved son: "But _continue thou_ in the things which thou hast learned and _hast been a.s.sured of_, knowing of whom thou hast learned; and that _from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation_ through faith which is in Christ Jesus. _All Scripture is given by inspiration of G.o.d_, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that _the man of G.o.d may be perfect_ (complete), _thoroughly furnished unto all good works_."
All this is unspeakably precious to every true lover of the word of G.o.d. The place here a.s.signed, and the virtues here attributed, to the Holy Scriptures are beyond all price. In short, it is utterly impossible to overstate the value and importance of the foregoing quotation. It is deeply touching to find the revered and beloved old veteran, in the full power of the Holy Ghost, recalling Timothy to the days of his childhood, when, at the knees of his pious mother, he drank at the pure fountain of inspiration. How did the dear child know that these holy writings were the word of G.o.d? He knew it just in the same way that the blessed apostle himself knew it, by their divine power and effect upon his heart and conscience through the Holy Ghost.
Did the Holy Scriptures need man"s credentials? What an insult to the dignity of Scripture to imagine that any human seal or guarantee is necessary to accredit it to the soul! Do we want the authority of the Church, the judgment of the Fathers, the decrees of councils, the consent of the doctors, the decision of the universities, to accredit the word of G.o.d? Far away be the thought! Who would think of bringing out a rushlight at noon to prove that the sun shines, or to bring home its beams in their genial virtue to the human frame? What son would think of taking his father"s letter to an ignorant crossing-sweeper to have it accredited and interpreted to his heart?
These figures are feebleness itself when used to ill.u.s.trate the egregious folly of submitting the Holy Scriptures to the judgment of any human mind. No, reader, the word of G.o.d speaks for itself. It carries its own powerful credentials with it. Its own internal evidences are amply sufficient for every pious, right-minded, humble child of G.o.d. It needs no letter of commendation from men. No doubt external evidences have their value and their interest. Human testimony must go for what it is worth. We may rest a.s.sured that the more thoroughly all human evidence is sifted, and the nearer all human testimony approaches to the truth, the more fully and distinctly will all concur in demonstrating the genuineness and integrity of our precious Bible. And further, we must declare our deep and settled conviction that no infidel theory can hold water for a moment; no infidel argument can pa.s.s muster with an honest mind. We invariably find that all infidel a.s.saults upon the Bible recoil upon the heads of those who make them. Infidel writers make fools of themselves, and leave the divine volume just where it always was, and where it always will be, like an impregnable rock, against which the waves of infidel thought dash themselves in contemptible impotency.
There stands the word of G.o.d in its divine majesty, in its heavenly power, in its beautiful simplicity, in its matchless glory, in its unfathomed because unfathomable depths, in its never-failing freshness and power of adaptation, in its marvelous comprehensiveness, in its vastness of scope, its perfect unity, its thorough uniqueness. The Bible stands alone. There is nothing like it in the wide world of literature; and if anything further were needed to prove that that book which we call "The Bible" is in very deed the living and eternal word of G.o.d, it may be found in the ceaseless efforts of the devil to prove that it is not.
"_Forever_, O Lord, Thy word is _settled in heaven_." What remains, beloved reader, for thee? Just this: "Thy word have I _hid in my heart_, that I might not sin against Thee." Thus it stands, blessed be His holy name; and when we have His Word hid in the depths of our hearts, the theories and the arguments, the reasonings or the ravings, the questionings and the conclusions of skeptics, rationalists and infidels, will be to us of less moment than the pattering of rain upon the window.
Thus much as to the weighty question of the "_authority_" upon which the great commission proceeds. The immense importance of the subject, and the special character of the moment through which we are pa.s.sing, must account for the unusual length of this article. We feel profoundly thankful for an opportunity of bearing our feeble testimony to the power, authority, all-sufficiency and divine glory of "the Holy Scriptures." "Thanks be to G.o.d for His unspeakable gift!"
PART VIII.
In full keeping with all that has pa.s.sed in review before us is the _sphere_ of "the great commission," as set forth in that comprehensive clause, "_Among all nations_." Such was to be the wide range of those heralds whom the risen Lord was sending forth to preach "repentance and remission of sins." Theirs was emphatically a world-wide mission.
In Matt. x. we find something quite different. There the Lord, in sending forth the twelve apostles, "commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not."
This was to be a mission exclusively to the house of Israel. There was no message for the Gentiles, no word for the poor Samaritans. If these messengers approached a city of the uncirc.u.mcised, they were on no account to enter it. The ways of G.o.d--His dispensational dealings--demanded a circ.u.mscribed sphere for the twelve apostles sent forth by the Messiah in the days of His flesh. "The lost sheep of the house of Israel" were to be the special objects of their ministry.
But in Luke xxiv. all is changed. The dispensational barriers are no longer to interfere with the messengers of grace. Israel is not to be forgotten, but the Gentiles are to hear the glad tidings. The sun of G.o.d"s salvation must now pour its living beams over the whole world.
Not a soul is to be excluded from the blessed light. Every city, every town, every village, every hamlet, every street, lane and alley, hedge and highway, must be diligently and lovingly searched out and visited, so that "every creature under heaven" might hear the good news of a full and free salvation.
How like our G.o.d is all this! How worthy of His large, loving heart!
He would have the tide of His salvation flowing from pole to pole, and from the river to the ends of the earth. His righteousness is unto all, and the sweet tale of His pardoning love must be wafted far and wide over a lost and guilty world. Such is His most gracious purpose, however tardy His servants may be in carrying it out.
It is of the greatest importance to have a clear view as to this branch of our subject. It brings out the character of G.o.d in a very magnificent light, and it leaves man wholly without excuse. Salvation is sent to the Gentiles. There is absolutely no limit, and no obstacle. Like the sun in the heavens, it shines on all. If a man will persist in hiding himself in a mine or in a tunnel, so that he cannot see the sun, he has none but himself to blame. It is no defect in the sun if all do not enjoy his beams. He shines for all. And in like manner, "the grace of G.o.d that bringeth salvation unto all men hath appeared." No one need perish because he is a poor lost sinner, for "G.o.d will have all to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth." "He willeth not that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
And then, that not a single feature might be lacking to set forth with all possible force and fulness the royal grace which breathes in "the great commission," our blessed Lord does not fail to point out to His servants the remarkable spot which was to be the centre of their _sphere_. He tells them to "begin at Jerusalem." Yes, Jerusalem, where our Lord was crucified; where every indignity that human enmity could invent was heaped upon His divine person; where a murderer and a robber was preferred to "G.o.d manifest in the flesh;" where human iniquity had reached its culminating point in nailing the Son of G.o.d to a malefactor"s cross--there the messengers were to begin their blessed work; that was to be the centre of the sphere of their gracious operations; and from thence they were to travel to the utmost bounds of the habitable globe. They were to begin with "Jerusalem sinners"--with the very murderers of the Son of G.o.d, and then go forth to publish everywhere the glorious tidings, so that all might know that precious grace of G.o.d which was sufficient to meet the crimson guilt of Jerusalem itself.
How glorious is all this! The guilty murderers of the Son of G.o.d were the very first to hear the sweet tale of pardoning love, so that all men might see in them a pattern of what the grace of G.o.d and the blood of Christ can do. Truly the grace that could pardon Jerusalem sinners can pardon any one; the blood that could cleanse the betrayers and murderers of the Christ of G.o.d can cleanse any sinner outside the precincts of h.e.l.l. These heralds of salvation, as they made their way from nation to nation, could tell their hearers where they had come from; they could tell of that superabounding grace of G.o.d which had commenced its operations in the guiltiest spot on the face of the earth, and which was amply sufficient to meet the very vilest of the sons of Adam.
"Sovereign grace o"er sin abounding: Ransomed souls the tidings swell; "Tia a deep that knows no sounding; Who its length or breadth can tell?"
Precious grace of G.o.d! May it be published with increased energy and clearness throughout the divinely appointed sphere. Alas, alas, that those who know it should be so slow to make it known to others! That slowness is, most surely, not of G.o.d. He absolutely delights in the publication of His saving, pardoning grace. He tells us that the feet of the evangelist are beautiful upon the mountains. He a.s.sures us that the preaching of the Cross is a sweet savor to His heart. Ought not all this to quicken our energies in the blessed work? Ought we not in every possible way to seek to carry out the gracious desire of the heart of G.o.d? Why are we so slow? Why so cold and indolent? Why so easily discouraged and repulsed? Why so ready to make excuses for not speaking to people about their souls?
There stands the great commission shining on the eternal page of inspiration in all its moral grandeur--its _terms_, its _basis_, its _authority_, its _sphere_! The work is not yet done. Nearly nineteen hundred years have rolled past since the risen Saviour sent forth His messengers; and still He waits, in sweet, long-suffering mercy, not willing that any should perish. Why are we not more willing-hearted in carrying out the gracious desire of His heart? It is not by any means necessary that we should be great preachers, or powerful public speakers, in order to carry on the precious work of evangelization.
What we want is a heart in communion with the heart of G.o.d, the heart of Christ, and that will surely be a heart for souls. We do not, and cannot, believe that one who is not led out in loving desire after the salvation of souls can really be in communion with the mind of Christ.
We cannot be in His presence and not think of the souls of those around us. For whoever cared for souls as He did? Mark His marvelous path!--His ceaseless toil as a teacher and preacher!--His thirst for the salvation and blessing of souls!
And has He not left us an example that we should follow His steps? Are we doing so in this one matter of making known the blessed gospel? Are we seeking to imitate Him in His earnest diligence in seeking the lost? See Him at the well of Sychar! Mark His whole deportment! Listen to His earnest, loving words! Note the joy and refreshment of His spirit as He sees one poor sinner receiving His message! "I have meat to eat that ye know not of;" "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together."
We would earnestly entreat the Christian reader to consider this great subject in the divine presence. We deeply feel its importance. We cannot but judge that, amid all the writing and reading, all the speaking and hearing, all the coming and going, there is a sad lack of deep-toned, earnest, solemn dealing with individual souls. How often do we rest satisfied with inviting people to come to the preaching, instead of seeking to bring them directly to Christ? How often do we rest content with the periodical preaching, instead of earnestly seeking, all the week through, to persuade souls to flee from the wrath to come? No doubt it is good to preach, and good to invite people to the preaching; but we may rest a.s.sured there is something more than all this to be done, and that something must be sought in deeper communion with the heart and mind of Christ.
Some there are who speak disparagingly of the blessed and holy work of evangelization. We tremble for them. We feel persuaded they are not in the current of the Master"s mind, and hence we utterly reject their thoughts. It is to be feared that their hearts are cold in reference to an object that engages the heart of G.o.d. If so, they would need to humble themselves in His presence, and seek to get their souls restored to a true sense of the magnitude, importance and interest of the grand question before us. At least let them beware of how they seek to discourage and hinder others whose hearts the Lord has moved to care for precious, immortal souls. The present is most a.s.suredly not the time for raising difficulties, and starting questions which can only prove stumbling-blocks in the pathway of earnest workers. It becomes us to seek in every right way to strengthen the hands of all who are endeavoring, according to their measure, to publish the glad tidings, and make known the unsearchable riches of Christ. Let us see that we do so, so far as in us lies; and above all things, let us never utter a sentence calculated to hinder any one in the blessed work of winning souls to Christ.
But we must draw this paper, and this series of papers, to a close. We might do so here, were it not that there is one more point in our subject which we feel must not be omitted, and that is the _power_ by which "the great commission" was to be carried out. To leave this out would be a great defect, a serious blank indeed; and we are the more anxious to notice it, inasmuch as the special form in which the power was communicated links itself, in a very remarkable way, with that which has been before us in this paper. If the _sphere_ was to be "all nations," the _power_ must be adapted thereto; and, blessed be G.o.d, so it was.
Our blessed Lord, in closing His commission to His disciples, said, "And ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." This promise was fulfilled, this power was communicated on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Ghost came down from the ascended and glorified Man, to qualify His servants for the glorious work for which He had called them. They had to "tarry"
until they got the power. How could they go without it? Who but the Holy Ghost could speak adequately of the love of G.o.d, of the person, work and glory of Christ? Who but He could enable any one to preach repentance and remission of sins? Who but He could properly handle all the weighty subjects comprehended in "the great commission?" In a word, the power of the Holy Ghost is absolutely essential in every branch of Christian service, and all who go to work without it will find it to be barrenness, misery, and desolation.
But we must call the reader"s special attention to the form in which the Holy Ghost came down on the day of Pentecost. It is full of deepest interest, and lets us into the precious secret of the heart of G.o.d in a most touching manner.
Let us turn to chapter ii. of the Acts of the Apostles.