CHRISTIANITY ESSENTIALLY MISSIONARY.
THE apostle of the Gentiles, said: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." The goal of its missionary ambition and hope is, that it goes forth to save. Not that it simply aspires to save, but it does save. To this result, as well as to this intent, it is the wisdom of God and the power of God. Many Christians doubtless interest themselves in missions sentimentally, not seeming to understand that they are bound to be missionaries if they would be in full sympathy with their Lord, build up a well developed Christian character, and have an unclouded title to the Christian name. Some there are, we do know, who urge objections, saying the missionary character does not belong to Christianity as such, but only to certain types of Christianity, and to Christians of peculiar constitutions. Thousands of private Christians show no missionary spirit whatever. The same is true of many whole churches. We affirm here and now—modestly, though positively—that Christianity is inherently, essentially, necessarily, a missionary religion. We do so for the following reasons:— Christianity recognizes the authority of its ascended Lord, who not merely authorizes, but commands, his disciples to go and preach. Christianity possesses the spirit of the Lord Jesus, and hence it must be a missionary religion. Christ said, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God!" He was obedient to the last intent of a command. A church filled with his Spirit, would not want his parting charge only as a sanction, not as a summons, to an unanticipated work. Perfect, loving devotion, can but seek to save like its Lord. Christianity is endued with power from on high, hence it is essentially missionary. So it was with the early church. It waited in Jerusalem for this power, and it came. The Christianity of the Bible believes that the mission of Christ to the world was really a needful one, and that this, his "commission" to the church, was a sequel to his personal work; hence, it is a missionary Christianity. We conclude the paper in the words of Dr. Aiken:— "Is the world a lost world? If not, you need not preach the gospel to every creature; but your Lord made a mistake, to say the least, in coming to save it. He was needlessly alarmed, or his church needs to be more alarmed about the state and prospect of the world; that is the alternative. "May other names be preached as efficaciously as his, or other instrumentalities be employed as efficaciously as preaching? Then he was in error when he enjoined 'that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Perhaps the impulsive Peter had jumped to wrong conclusions, and after all was not 'filled with the Holy Ghost,' when he said to Annas, Caiaphas, and the rest, 'Neither is there salvation in any other.' Then the great missionary work that began at Pentecost has not only been a great superfluity and waste, but a great libel on human nature. And must not the Lord fairly be held responsible for this folly and wrong in the conduct of his servants? "If, then, in so many ways, Christianity is shown to be, not accidentally, but inherently and essentially, a missionary religion, what of the church that is not a missionary church, and the Christian that is not a missionary Christian? Is not so much wanting to a clear, full title to the Christian name? And if the defect be examined, it is found to touch the disciple's loyalty to the Lord's authority, his sympathy with the Lord's spirit, his appreciation of his Lord's gifts, his regard for the obligations of trust, his solicitude for his Lord's glory, his conception of the nature and necessity of his Lord's work. Surely the title of that disciple needs strengthening."—London Christian.