“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matt. 28:18-20.
These are familiar words, but has the commission set forth in them been fully appreciated by us? The power is promised to us—“all power;” the direction to go to all the world is clearly commanded us; and the promise of the abiding presence of the first Great Missionary is assuringly made to us—“Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” The scope of our work is also set forth—“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.” In another place the Saviour says:
“And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matt. 24:14.
Again through the prophet John the same truths are thus set forth:
“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Rev. 14:6, 7.
With this follows a second message and a third, and then what?—The coming of the King, the reaping of the harvest of the earth. This is the end.
Let us gather up the thought of the scriptures cited: The Saviour’s commission to His church was a world-wide commission and was not to be inoperative till the work was all done at the end of the world. With the command He assures the Holy Spirit’s power to do the work; and altho the task seems an almost insurmountable one, the power promised is “all power,” sufficient for the work. When the complete Gospel, including the “Gospel of the kingdom,”—that which proclaims the coming of Christ the King,—is fully preached “in all the world” and “unto all nations,” “then shall the end come.” And there is not a land but that this last great message must be preached there; this “everlasting Gospel” will be proclaimed in no uncertain voice, to “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.”
Malay Village.
Could the commission to us be more plain? Our work is set out before us. God has spoken to us. We are called by a divine voice to service. But the Lord who has spoken by the mouth of His prophets in past times, has also in the last days spoken many times along these same lines, and specifically He has set before us this commission as it relates to the
Australasian Field.
In the providence of the Lord, upon the Australasian Union Conference rests the burden of carrying the third angel’s message to the islands of the Pacific. It seems right that we should do that, but how assuring it is for the Lord to tell us! But one reason that the Lord so frequently tells us the same thing is to impress us. Are we being impressed with what the Gospel commission means? When God has set before us our duty in a general way so frequently, and then speaks to the people of the Australasian Union Conference and tells them specifically what their work is, shall we not now arise to do the work? But let us for a moment look at
The Scope of Our Work.
As the message is to go to all nations, and to every tongue and to every tribe in all these nations, it is sure, then, that this message must go to every island in the Pacific, great and small. It is a vast work and attended by many difficulties. But the difficulties are no encumbrance. They are to be overcome. They point forward to a greater fulness of power. But this has all been taken into account and has been provided for.
The work in our field is one of great magnitude. We have over 50,000,000 people to warn of the “Gospel of the kingdom.” How few missionaries we have in the great East Indian field! Had we 4,000 missionaries here alone, each missionary would have 12,500 to whom he must minister! Had we 500 missionaries here, each missionary would then have 100,000 to teach! If we had 50 missionaries, each one would have 1,000,000. But in Java, where there is an estimated population of 32,000,000, we have four missionaries, or one missionary to every 8,000,000 souls! Are not our hearts burdened as we see how large the task is? Let us remember that the work committed to us demands haste. It is all to be done
In “This Generation.”
And let us not forget that a large part of “this generation” has passed, and much of the work is yet to be done. The signs are many which show us where we live. We know that He is near, “even at the door.” Signs have been given us in the heavens, and long ago most of these have been fulfilled. The generation that saw these signs in the preaching of the first message is passing away. There have been signs upon the earth, and they have been thickening about us; they are too numerous even to mention. These have a double purpose: they are meant to warn the world, to cause the ungodly man to call a halt, and they serve to awaken God’s people to their God-given duty to carry quickly to the sinking nations the last warning message. Shall we wait till God speaks in still more terrible tones than He has in some of the extraordinary signs of the last few years? We have a duty to perform; we are to be
Lights to the World.
The world is in darkness and needs the light we should be giving. Men are looking to us as tempest-tossed mariners look for a light as they near a dangerous coast. Shall we fail to set the light on high that it may be seen? “Ah, sir,” said a certain lighthouse keeper, his face shining with intensity as he spoke, “sometimes in the dark13night, and in the stormy weather, I look out upon the sea, and feel as tho the eye of the whole world were looking at my light. My light go out? Burn dim! That flame flicker low or fail? No, sir, never!”
And shall Christians, shining for tempted sinners, allow their light to fail? Forever out upon life’s billowy sea are souls we see not, strange sailors in the dark, passing by, struggling amid the surges of temptation. The ocean is vast, its dangers are many, and the eyes of far-away voyagers are turned toward the lighthouse—the church of Jesus Christ. Shall we fail at such a time as this? O, then “arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” And why should we shine? “For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people.” And this is the condition to-day. The world is in darkness. In this great East Indian field millions are in the darkness of Islamism and millions are in the darkness of heathenism. The situation is certainly one that calls for
Prayer and Definite Consecration.
The Master stated the situation when He said, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth laborers into the harvest.” We need to look upon the fields which are “white already unto harvest.” Study of mission fields will beget a burden for the fields. Let us study our great field as we have never done before. But we should pray not only that God will raise up others to be laborers, but each individual should ask himself, “What can I do?” And many should be saying, “Here am I, Lord, send me.” All should be consecrated for this work. Many can not go, but all can give of their consecrated means.
