The Great Missionary Society.
By B. F. Snook
“Arise, shine, for thy light is come; and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” Isa. lx, 1. The subject of missionary operations is one that should begin to receive the candid considerations of the people of God. What are the duties of God's people in this direction? What are their agencies? I. In order to present a few thoughts on this subject, we will first consider the church as a missionary society. Under the Mosaic dispensation the lively oracles were committed to his church for us. Acts vii, 38. The things then written, were written for our learning; that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. Rom. xv, 4. Peter, speaking of the prophets of that age, says, “Unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by the holy Ghost, sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.” 1 Pet. i, 12. The church at that time had no missionary duties assigned her; but by her types was required to point sinners to Christ; for that perfect salvation, which the blood of animals could not procure. But Christ having come, and the means of salvation being devised, the middle wall of partition also being broken down; he constituted the church a missionary society. 1. He commits to her that holy light of his divine word, with which he would have all enlightened. He then said, “Ye are the light of the world, a city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Matt. v, 14, 15. This world is all dark and gloomy. All the light of her great philosophers, Plato, Socrates, and others can never discover the way to God, the way to salvation. Therefore, God in great compassion has placed a light in the world for its illumination. That light is the revelation of his will contained in his word. David says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Ps. cxix, 105. This light he has placed in his church, or intrusted to his people. He has therefore made it their duty to present the light to their fellow men. He says, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Verse 16. It therefore is wrong for the church to seclude her light, or to keep it in obscurity. In order to the conversion of sinners, Christ requires a duty of his people. “Let your light so shine.” If the light does not shine, no conversions will be made; and his people are responsible for the neglect of duty. If the light does shine, somebody will be converted and glorify God. The only source through which the world can receive light is through the church of Christ, to which he has intrusted the light. 2. He has committed to her the gospel which is God's power unto salvation. This constitutes her the salt of the earth. He says, “Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Verse 13. If the church is the salt of the earth, its influence upon the world must be preserving and saving. Hence the honest of the world, under such an influence, will be led to salvation. The world in sin is lying at the door of death, dying for the salvation offered to them in the gospel. Shall not the offer be made? Sinners everywhere are starving for the bread of life. Shall we who have it, by neglect of duty, withhold it from them, and permit them to die for want thereof? Great indeed is our responsibility in this case. O that we may soon feel and realize it in its full weight. II. The church, as a missionary society, sends out her chosen ministers to proclaim the words of life. The Lord selected from his church certain disciples whom he called apostles, and licensed them as missionaries to go out into the world's wide field to preach the gospel. He said, “Go ye therefore, teach all nations.” Matt. xxviii, 19. “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark xvi, 15. This commission is unlimited, requiring that they should preach the gospel everywhere. They went forth, proclaiming salvation in the name of Jesus in every place. God worked with them in great power, and made them effectual to the salvation of a few. They preached an unwelcome truth. The world did not love it. It did not come from Cæsar's palace. Great men did not embrace it. They could not humble themselves, that God might exalt them. But they must be warned, notwithstanding, for God says, “When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die, and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand.” “Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.” Eze. iii, 18, 19. Truly solemn is the responsibility of the Christian minister. So the Lord has made his office. His is an office the issues of which are life and death. If he warns the sinner and he receive the warning, both lives are saved. If he does not give the warning the sinner will die in his sins, and he will be lost himself for neglecting his duty. O may God help his poor servants to feel their great responsibility. The first missionaries went forth doing their duties under a realizing sense of what God enjoined upon, and required of, them. They gave up the world, and counted it as nothing for the excellency of Christ. They went forth as sheep among wolves, presenting heaven's great blessing of salvation. However, they met no worldly applause, received no praises of men, but were counted the offscouring of all things, were persecuted from city to city, banished from State to State, and at last when worn out in faithful service, when they had drank the bitter cup of persecution, when they had finished their course, all, save the beloved John, ratified their testimony by their own blood in suffering death by martyrdom. They did their duty, and fell at their post; and in the last day when they arise they will hear shouts of praise to God from millions of immortal saints, for whose salvation they can claim to have labored. The same great commission that authorized them to go out into all the world is yet in force, and Christ yet says to his people, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. For lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Go, and I will go with you, is the sentiment of the Lord. But the Lord does not ordinarily call and send men independently of the church. He will lead out by his Spirit in his church, and the church will follow in the direction in which his Spirit moves. Whom the Lord calls, he will go with, and whom he sends he will aid and sustain. III. The church as a missionary society sustains her missionaries in the field of labor, and co-works with them for the salvation of souls. This is done, 1. By those means which satisfy the temporal demands of the missionaries. While the brethren and sisters cannot go out and preach, by being industrious and economical they can act well their part by contributing to the sustenance of those whom they send out. Each one does something in this way. All should desire to be doing what they can in this way. The means placed in the missionary fund will go to sustain your poor brethren who labor in the missionary work. Who among this people is there that does not desire to have a donation in the treasury? Not one, we hope. Let all strive to do something for it. And especially let me say to my brethren and sisters in Iowa, that when God calls for help, he means you, and does not intend that you shall be deprived of that special love for giving to his cause. The Lord loves a cheerful giver. We are running no tent this season, and we must do a good part for the Association, and missionary cause. 2. The church must also sustain her laborers by her prayers. Each member should have a burden of the work, and a heartfelt desire for it to move on. This is God's cause, and why should not the work go on, and on to victory? The Lord has ever been willing to hear the prayers of his people in behalf of their good and his own cause. Therefore while his ears are open to our cries, let us fill them with prayers for the success of his cause. 3. But we must not let our religion consist in prayer alone. We must live in such a way that our influence will testify to the truth. It is a source of great pleasure and comfort to the poor preacher when he is laboring hard among the wicked and hard-hearted, to have the assurance that his brethren at home are living out the truth. Such confidence is a bulwark, a mighty tower of strength to him. Thus we may all be workers together in this great enterprise. Dear brethren and sisters, in conclusion let me say, as time is short and our mission is great, O, let us be engaged, and interested in the work. God is able to move it on, but works in his own way. He has given the light to his people and now says, “Arise and shine, for thy light is come.” O, that every one may feel a share of the burden of this work; and may it move on, and on, till by the power of God it shall close in the salvation of all his honest children.