My *Kinsmen* by M. C. STRACHAN

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 18, 1908

“My Kinsmen”

By M. C. STRACHAN

M. C. STRACHAN

“I SAY the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” Rom. 9: 1-3.

In these verses we have an expression of Paul's anxiety for the salvation of his own people, the Jews. His concern for Israel is remarkable in many particulars. First, it stands out in strong contrast with the fact that he was an apostle to the gentiles, and he took special pride and glory in the commission given him; so much so, that he said, “I magnify mine office” as a preacher to the gentiles. Notwithstanding the fact that he was appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the gentiles, he never forgot that he was a Jew by birth; and he ever felt the debt of love he owed to his own race; and in language most strong and positive he declares, “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” It may seem a dreadful wish; but so much does Paul value the salvation of the many thousand souls of his own kin above that of his own soul, so greatly does he desire the glorifying of Christ and his grace in the salvation of these souls. O what love is here expressed for one's own race!

This concern of Paul for his race is not only remarkable in this respect, but the sincerity of the expression stands out in the most emphatic language. He says, “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost.” In other words, he wishes it understood that the testimony of the Holy Ghost enlightened and confirmed his conscience as to the honesty and truthfulness of his statement. And when a man is honest and true in an expression that comes from an unbiased conscience, he needs no other witness to attest his statement save the witness of the Holy Ghost.

But there is one feature in connection with Paul's remarkable concern for the salvation of his own race, which seems most characteristic of the text, and that is the intensity of his anxiety. “I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen in the flesh. His burning desire for the saving of his own countrymen is expressed again in Rom. 10: 1. “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.” And note that this language is addressed to another nation. But he tells this foreign nation to whom he is sent as a preacher that the burning desire and zeal of his heart is toward his own race, the Jews.

In view of the foregoing, is it not a true virtue for a worker who enters the cause of truth, and goes forth to preach the gospel of the kingdom, to be interested in the saving of his own race? True the Saviour's commission is, “To all the world,” and, “To every nation;” but, the man who goes forth into this spiritual warfare, carrying with him no special burden for his own race, surely lacks the element of apostolic patriotism. What kind of man is he who is not zealous for the highest good of his own countrymen?

We have the warning given through the spirit of prophecy in regard to the misdirected efforts of some workers in this particular: While we are to bear in mind the fact that the harvest-field embraces every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, and all these, more or less, have no small claim upon our labor and service, still we must not avoid the conclusion that each worker should carry a special burden for his own people.

Washington, D. C.