THE TRUE MISSIONARY SPIRIT.
By M. Wood
If I mistake not the calling of the true missionary, it is to do all the good he can, as a willing instrument in the hands of God in administering to the spiritual wants of his fellow-creatures, in preaching a crucified Saviour to a dying world; to herald forth the glad tidings of the speedy advent of the blessed Lord Jesus. The true missionary spirit is to love God with the whole heart, and our neighbor as ourselves. When we love God, we shall keep his commandments; for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments. When we love neighbors, we shall, at least, be willing to impart that knowledge unto them which is able to make them wise unto salvation. We want our hearts imbued with the true missionary spirit. We want to turn our back upon the world, and our face toward Mount Zion. We want and must have our works in conformity with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is glad tidings of great joy, peace on earth, and good will towards all men. The missionary spirit is to declare these glad tidings to all men. Rev. 14 : 9-12, is a portion of these glad tidings. And it is the business of all true missionaries to raise an alarm, to cry aloud and spare not, to show their relatives, friends, and neighbors, their transgressions of God's holy law, place the pure, unadulterated truth in their hands, and strive, by love and good works, to lead them to Christ. The true missionary spirit is to visit every habitable part of the globe, and sound an alarm that will gather a people prepared to meet their Lord when he shall come to be glorified in his saints. Jesus says, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." The missionary spirit is to carry this command into effect. There are thousands and thousands of precious souls who have not yet heard the sound of the third angel's message. And God wants reader and writer to be willing to bear these soul-stirring truths to many people, and nations, and tongues, and kings. The honest-hearted will read, heed, and be saved in God's everlasting kingdom; while the murmuring, doubting, unbelievers, will be destroyed by the brightness of Christ's coming. Where is the Christian heart that can reflect unmoved upon the fact that in a few days millions of our fellow-creatures must stumble over the high mountains of darkness and be lost forever? Surely no child of God can know this without feeling a strong desire to extend a helping hand, and exert himself as God's instrument in sending the advent message to the perishing sons and daughters of Adam. Again our Saviour says, "Ye are the light of the world." The missionary spirit is to let this light shine into every part of the world, driving away moral darkness and imparting the glorious light and liberty of the gospel. We find after our Saviour had commanded the apostles to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, it is said that they went forth and preached everywhere. This is precisely what the true missionary spirit aims at in this day and time. It is said in the same verse that the Lord worked with them. So he does at present. He works with his missionary servants. He is directing them by his Holy Spirit. Go back to the primitive believers and take them for an example in missionary labor. See how laborious, persevering, and indefatigable, were God's dear people in visiting every nation, and kindred, and tribe of people, especially Paul the great apostle; or missionary to the Gentiles. The gospel breathes the very spirit of benevolence and religious missionary effort, and the true missionary spirit is the very spirit of the gospel.