Jesus Commissions the Disciples on a HilltopBible World
16:15Mark 16:15
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
The risen Christ commanded His disciples to go out to seek people everywhere rather than wait for them to come, and to proclaim the good news to every person of every rank, class, nation and tongue. The charge was given with all authority as His atoning work was complete, and it was not limited to Israel or to the first disciples but rests on the church in every age to the end of time as long as sinners remain to hear it. To preach the gospel is to preach Christ, His life, death, love and power to forgive, renew and save, calling all to believe and be baptized unto salvation with the warning that unbelief brings condemnation. The duty belongs to every converted soul, not to ministers alone, each working in his own place with his own gifts to teach, live the truth, and let light shine in deeds as well as words. Obedience is joined to His constant presence, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and confirming signs in casting out evil, healing the sick and opening hearts, so the work is done under the shield of Omnipotence. It therefore requires going to new and neglected fields at home and abroad instead of settling where privileges are already enjoyed, scattering means, workers and publications abroad, and advancing promptly by faith while probation lingers.
Setting and Wording
The risen Christ spoke the words to the eleven as they ate, after He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart for not believing those who had seen Him risen. It was His instruction concerning the work they were to carry on in the earth according to the example He had set in His ministry, His last commission before He left them, given as He lifted up His hands and blessed them just before He was received up into heaven to sit at the right hand of God. He had opened their understanding to the meaning of the prophecies concerning Himself, together with the assurance that all power was given Him in heaven and on earth. It was the work Jesus left for the disciples to take up just where He left it, a work they would fully understand only when the Holy Spirit came upon them in full measure and illuminated their minds. When the command was given the disciples still held their old hope that Jesus would take His place upon the throne of David at Jerusalem and restore the kingdom to Israel, and they hoped the descent of the Holy Ghost would influence the Jewish people to accept Jesus.
The command was given with boundless authority and all power in heaven and earth, as Christ stood but a step from His heavenly throne. He was on His way to be honored by angels, principalities and powers and to enter upon His mediatorial work, announcing that His sacrifice in behalf of man was full and complete, the conditions of the atonement fulfilled, and the work He came to do accomplished. He stood a step from the completion of His great sacrifice for the world, advancing with His army of heavenly angels, and the word was to be carried out under the shield of Omnipotence. His first act in heaven corresponded with it in the sending of His Holy Spirit in rich abundance as the heavenly endowment for the work begun at Jerusalem.
The commission was first given to the twelve in the upper chamber and then given to a larger number when all the believers who could be called together were assembled on a mountain in Galilee. It was repeated again and again in different forms so the disciples would grasp its significance and take in its meaning after His death and resurrection and ascension. Go was His last word spoken to His disciples and the last indication of His will while He was upon the earth.
The verse enlarges the earlier restriction to go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and not to Gentiles or to any city of the Samaritans. It breaks down the walls of partition erected by the Jewish nation and opens the world before the disciples as their field of labor to people nigh and afar off, to the inhabited world. Given by the One who is both Creator and Redeemer of the world, it sets forth a new order of things in which love like Christ's love is to reach all. It proclaims a faith and worship without barriers of caste or country, suited to every people, nation, and class, not to be kept within the Jewish nation, whose leaders' exclusiveness had made them unfit to be the light of the world. No one was to be left without hearing the warning, for the commission included the Gentiles and fulfilled the foretold gathering of people who had not been God's people.
Go into all the world means the disciples and those who succeed them are to go out to seek people rather than wait for people to come to them. Every creature means every person with reasoning faculties to understand it, every person in the whole world and everyone in it. Its reach includes all the inhabitants of the earth, high and low, rich and poor, of every rank, class, nation and tongue, regardless of rank or wealth. The command rules out prejudice based on nationality, place, or social standing and calls people to love the whole human family, regarding every needy person as a brother, whether neighbor or stranger, friend or enemy, Jew and Gentile, learned and unlearned, and people in high or low positions.
Scope and Continuance
The command sends followers throughout the entire world to preach the gospel to every person, leaving none unwarned and passing no one by. Though Christ is no longer present on earth in person, His followers are to continue His work of bringing the gospel to the world so it is not left in darkness. What God asks of those who give themselves and all they have to Him is answered here: they are to use their gifts and service to carry the message to others. The message is to be carried by human agents, while Christ works through the Holy Spirit to confirm it, make it effective, and bring people to conversion, an understanding faith, and obedience to His commands.
The commission has no stated time limit and continues as long as sinners remain to hear the gospel, reaching from the apostles to the last believer who shares in preaching. The promise of spiritual gifts and accompanying signs is joined to this commission and extends beyond the apostles to believers, presented as part of that continuing work with no limit to a particular age of the church. It belongs not to the apostles alone but to everyone, with the broader meaning that each one who hears must join in saying come and in carrying the good news to the whole world and to every person. It applies not only to the disciples then present but to all who believe in Christ until the end of time, resting on the church in all ages and calling for active service rather than words alone. Obedience to this command brings the Holy Spirit as guide and counselor, and Christ remains true, working with those who minister in His name and bringing mercy and blessing.
The commission given to the first disciples is given to present believers, successors, and all who understand the plan of salvation. It includes as missionaries all who would believe on His name, so the obligation belongs to every converted soul and to the large number, not only to ordained ministers. Those who have received increased light in the last days are to take the gospel of saving grace to every people, with the message centered on the crucified and risen Saviour reaching both nearby communities and far-off lands through preaching, personal service, and faithful daily living. The same power promised to the first disciples is promised to present believers where they place themselves to receive it, the power that enabled thousands to be converted in a day. Fulfilling it means warning fellow beings, working for neighbors in the home field, doing earnest, sanctified, evangelical work for the unenlightened, entering unworked cities, making centers of truth, and bringing Bible truth before many to prepare a people to stand in the day of the Lord, for leaving fellow beings unwarned forfeits Heaven's approval. As Christ's witnesses believers are assigned the special work of revealing the character of God to a world lying in sin by living Christ before the world, which calls listless church members to examine how they have fulfilled this commission.
The apostles obeyed by going forth and preaching everywhere as the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word with signs following. They carried out this worldwide instruction concerning the work they were to carry on in the earth according to the example set in Christ's ministry, continuing what He did when on earth working for sin-cursed cities. The commission was given with all power and with the promise of His continual presence, and obeyed after the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles it carried power that converted thousands in a day. Converted believers who are clustered together must hear and heed it by going forth in the same way. Within a single generation they carried the gospel to every nation under heaven.
The gospel is to be proclaimed throughout the world, and the command applies to the message Miller and his associates carried, which they believed God had committed to them to give to the world. Their proclamation that the judgment was near and the everlasting kingdom would soon be ushered in was a later counterpart to the disciples' worldwide preaching. Their message, like the disciples' message about the kingdom, rested on a fulfilled portion of the same great prophetic period.
Gospel Message Proclaimed
To preach the gospel is to preach Christ Himself, His unselfish life and history, His condescension and sufferings, His shameful death on the cross, and His unchanging and unparalleled love. That preaching lifts Him up before all, makes known His love and suffering for others, centers on Him and His righteousness, His sacrifice to put away sin, and His power to save, transform, forgive, renew human nature, clothe the soul in His righteousness, restore right-mindedness, and prepare sinners to work with God. His name unites believers, is their watchword and authority against sin, and faith in His name marks them as Christians who overcome sin, while His promise to remain with them to the end confirms their teaching of all He taught.
The gospel so preached calls for belief joined to baptism unto salvation and warns that unbelief brings condemnation, so that acceptance or rejection decides the result. It proclaims the conditions of salvation, sets the truth in clear lines with personal interest in every creature, and includes healing the sick and comforting the sorrowful after Christ's example. Those who believe are followed by confirming signs as the Lord works with the preachers, casting out devils, speaking with new tongues, taking up serpents without harm, drinking deadly things without hurt by unseen protection in eating and drinking, and recovering the sick through laying on of hands as gospel truth expels Satan's workings and heals bodies.
The message to every creature is God's last message of mercy to a perishing race, carried everywhere by self-sacrificing labor and circulation of publications with faith shown in active work. It includes the definite present invitation that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, that all things are now ready, and that the Lord of glory is soon coming in the clouds with power and great glory, to go to every nation, tongue, and people and not be confined to churches already knowing truth or to favored localities. It combines the three angels' messages in a threefold final warning, and includes every feature of the third angel's message to be proclaimed everywhere in simple methods and practical compassionate deeds that no climate, poverty, ignorance, or prejudice can prevent from meeting human need. That worldwide work requires well-organized effort in different parts of the field and in the cities to reach men and women from highways and byways, belonging not to ordained ministers alone but to all desiring soul salvation, even families locating quietly in dark places to let Christ's life shine until ministerial help is needed.
The gospel is glad tidings for all, to be made plain and simple so it can be impressed on the mind, taught as little children are taught, lived before people and carried into their homes in distant lands and nearby unconverted towns and cities. It is God's power unto salvation and the only message leading to eternal life, to be shared freely without barriers, human wisdom, or high-flown language, revealing God’s character and Christ as altogether lovely with self submerged and never exalted. Like the invitation to the great supper it calls all who will to come to the costly prepared banquet of Jesus' love, without putting difficult subjects first or bringing theories that create controversy and keep men away, while schools and teachers instruct the ignorant with kindness shown in loving deeds. Those having light must impart it to all around them, even where people are as sheep without a shepherd, without Christ and without hope, hungering for light, for every soul is valued by God, with special care for the stranger, outcast, and poor weak in moral power under Christ as rightful sovereign of highways, hedges, and byways.
Preaching is more than sermons from a pulpit and more than one way of speaking, including repeating precious holy truths to every ear, spreading Christian principles by precept and example, and teaching all things Christ commanded including truths for this time. It is done through deeds, a godly consistent life, letting light shine, self-denial for others' good, love for souls above riches, teaching and comforting, reflecting truth in word and deed, and showing the beauty of Christ's life in earnest self-sacrificing service. It follows Christ's daily example so love to God and to fellow men redeemed by Jesus is seen as life's motive power, enlightening the ignorant, encouraging the discouraged, healing the sick, warning those who have not heard mercy, showing tender sympathy, pitying love, and care for physical needs joined to ministry of the soul to open hearts for clearer truth. Fulfilling it comes from a burden and unrest for perishing souls that cannot be restrained and brings growth in grace, while neglect leaves dissatisfaction and complaining criticism used by Satan.
Promised Power and Signs
The command to go carries with it the assurance of complete success, for obedience is joined to the promise of all power in heaven and earth and of constant presence to the end of the world. The work is to be done under the shield of Omnipotence, with the gift and renewing power of the Holy Spirit and with Heaven's approval, and with Christ Himself as Chief Workman taking the whole work into His own hands and taking responsibility for its success. He asks only the cooperation of the human agent, working in His appointed way in supreme love to God and love to others as He loved, in constant watching, waiting, praying and working, walking by faith and not by sight and looking to Jesus. The one who loves Him most will do the greatest amount of good, and humble workers are to be encouraged and not restrained, for moving in faith trusting in God brings experience and success. The commission is the great missionary charter to go just where the Lord sends to bear His message and do His work, preaching to save souls by bringing them to a knowledge of the truth, since acquaintance with God's truth is the only means of sanctification.
The disciples were made co-laborers with their Redeemer in saving the world, going forth in His name with all power behind them and with the ministry of His Spirit promised to them. The path is not plain and easy but calls for sharing in His sufferings, with the assurance that if united with one another and with Him His righteousness will shine upon them and from them to a world constantly increasing in wickedness. They were to catch radiance from the Saviour's presence and let it shine upon those walking in the shadow of death, lifting Him up, beginning in Jerusalem before those who resisted His mercy and love and then carrying the truth to all nations, since the work was not to commence and end in Jerusalem. When they went forth everywhere preaching, the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message with signs following. The work is to be done in genuine forgetfulness of self and dependence by faith on Jesus to His name's glory, with heart, mind and speech taken possession of by the divine theme and the message presented in fervency of the Spirit, for when the Word is ministered under God's supervision and the Spirit bears confirmation, results follow because God's Word is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword and His promise is sure.
The promise of spiritual gifts and confirming signs joined to the commission extends beyond the apostles to believers, with no stated limit to a particular age of the church. It continues as long as sinners remain to hear the gospel and as long as the gospel is preached, reaching the last believer who shares in preaching. The same power promised to the first disciples is promised to present believers where they place themselves to receive it, enabling preaching so mighty that thousands were converted in a day. In the disciples' witness three thousand were converted in one day, for the Holy Spirit gives power and effectiveness to this missionary work. Fulfilling the commission therefore means warning fellow beings, working for neighbors in the home field, doing earnest, sanctified, evangelical work for the unenlightened, entering unworked cities, making centers of truth, bringing Bible truth before many to prepare a people to stand in the day of the Lord, and every church member joining by inviting others to receive the water of life, for leaving fellow beings unwarned forfeits Heaven's approval.
Those who believe are followed by confirming signs as the Lord works with the preachers. These signs are casting out devils in His name, speaking with new tongues and new languages, taking up serpents and handling them without harm, drinking deadly things without hurt, and recovering of the sick through laying on of hands. Belief joined to baptism brings salvation while unbelief brings condemnation. As gospel truth expels Satan's dark workings on human minds and heals bodies, God gives unseen protection to His believing people from deadly things taken in eating and drinking. Studying this instruction as it should be studied keeps from advocating theories with no foundation in the Word of God, and when diligently studied and lived it brings power in proclaiming the truth so souls are converted.
The promise that believers will lay hands on the sick and they shall recover means God will hear prayer offered for the sick and heal many when the sick are humbled and meek and will remain humble and give the glory to God instead of becoming exalted or spoiled by the manifestation. All are invited to learn His meekness and lowliness of heart so the Lord may work by the Holy Spirit upon bodies through living faith, for this blessing requires great humility because self-glorification keeps God from entrusting it. Cherished unbelief hardens the heart and leaves it unresponsive even when sufficient evidence for faith is present. The message is to be carried by human agents, while Christ works through the Holy Spirit to confirm it, make it effective, and bring people to conversion, an understanding faith, and obedience to His commands. He works with them, removes obstacles, opens hearts, and confirms the proclamation of truth, so that while human effort alone is weakness, the cooperating soul, body and spirit made able by the Spirit can accomplish much. Those who accept Bible truth receive new hearts and speak with changed words, going out preaching His gospel while the Lord works with them to confirm the message, and He supplies His workers with the help they need to teach it to every person throughout the world, translated into all languages and presented in ways people can understand.
All Believers Called
The commission lays its solemn duty of personal service on each follower of Christ, on every converted soul who receives His life, not on ordained ministers or missionaries in the ordinary sense alone. Men and women, children and youth, old and young, learned and unlearned, laymen as well as ministers, are accepted as laborers and called to preach the gospel where they are, nearby, or in a more distant field. Faithful work done wherever circumstances allow can reach in influence to the ends of the earth, and obedience need not wait for years of routine preparation, for to demand such delay is a decided error already done too much.
All who receive life in Christ are appointed to work for the salvation of fellow men, sharing Christ's own longing for the saving of the lost and serving in cooperation with God. All upon whom God's blessings, gifts, possessions, and opportunities have been bestowed must answer with actual service, using every gift, ability, and means to bring the gospel to others and advance His kingdom. What God asks of those who give themselves and all they have to Him is that their service be employed to proclaim the good news to every creature.
Followers do not all fill the same place, for different persons are fitted for different branches, roles, abilities, and talents, yet for all there is a place and a work. Doing one's own part unselfishly is obedience to the command, without envy and evil surmising, with one church rejoicing in the success and triumph of all. Each is to ask God where his post of duty is and what he shall do for the Master, searching God's Word with interest and simplicity of heart and mind, willing to be taught by the Holy Spirit to open the Word of life to others. As the light received is communicated, the Holy Spirit gives increased light and fills the heart with the joy of the Lord.
God has organized His instrumentalities to draw all men unto Him, and He sends forth to His work many who have not been dedicated by the laying on of hands, without first asking permission of earthly legislative councils or of those who think they must plan His work. If finite men to whom He commits His work do not bar the way, He will send forth laborers into His vineyard, for He sees the end from the beginning, anticipates every want, and provides for every emergency. He arms even the weakest with might through the Holy Spirit, Christ's representative, to press forward unto victory in unison with heavenly agencies against the confederacy of evil and not against brethren. Lay members share the truth and lead others to obey and to follow Christ's commands even in their daily employment, and no one is exempt from service though not all are called to preach.
Entering discipleship makes each believer a laborer with Christ in drawing people to God, pledging in baptismal vows earnest, self-denying efforts to promote soul-saving even in the hardest parts of the great harvest field. Everyone who has eaten of Christ is to labor in all simplicity to teach others what they must do to be saved, teaching all things Christ commanded including the truths for this time, going at once, putting away superficial excuses, and no longer grieving the Spirit by delay. This ministry belongs to all who are born again and requires entire surrender to God, entire dependence on Him, daily renewed conversion, and cleansing from every habit that hinders influence, so that by practicing the truth in word and deed believers become witnesses whom the truth makes free and whose light shines before men in good works. Such burden for perishing souls brings growth in grace, rest, peace, happiness, and renewed first love and faith, while neglect leaves dissatisfaction and a complaining, criticizing frame of mind that Satan uses.
Methods Means and Stewardship
The command is to go outward to seek the lost and open new fields ripe for harvest, not to gather in one place for advanced study or settle where gospel privileges are already enjoyed. It does not wait for years of routine preparation or college training in higher classics, and to demand such delay is decided error. The light of Christ's righteousness received by faith is to be communicated at once, with laymen accepted as laborers alongside ministers, filled with the Spirit to set forth the unsearchable riches. Young people are to go forth by faith two and two under Christ's yoke as gospel medical missionaries, depending on God rather than man for wisdom and success, searching the Scriptures and presenting its truths, since His presence is worth more than years of training. Like Israel stopping after partial conquest of Canaan instead of occupying the whole land, to promote new theories among those who already know but do not obey while unreached people remain unwarned is unfaithfulness that forfeits blessing and risks being set aside.
Centralization and concentration in a few places disobeys the One who loves the whole world, for the work is to advance proportionately wherever openings arise. Interests are not to be centered in Battle Creek or Jerusalem while other portions are left without help and foreign fields are hindered, but large churches are to scatter to the four quarters and ministers maintained where there are no Sabbathkeepers. Large centers are to be broken up and means distributed to establish plants, stations, memorials, schools, sanitariums, and meetinghouses in many places, in cities of America and throughout the world, including Washington D.C. as the capital and heart of the nation, the South, and heathen lands at home and abroad. To spend lavishly to provide facilities in one part of the vineyard while depriving other fields of memorials to honor the Lord and ignoring their entreaties is selfishness, selfish ambition, seeking praise of men, and misappropriation of goods for which stewards, not owners, of means are held guilty and accountable. The scattering of the disciples from Jerusalem under persecution shows how the gospel reached the inhabited world.
The work begins at home before going to distant and new fields, with home missions receiving first attention. Jerusalem was first, then new fields, so family, neighbors, own country, crowded cities, villages, country byways, and places like Cooranbong are each a home mission field where the nearest duty is taken up first. The whole church bears this missionary character, with every member who knows the truth accountable and every power enlisted to circulate tidings of light and peace, hope and joy to those nigh and afar off, in highways and hedges, to heights and depths, until everyone hears and transmits the light to others. From centers workers are to go into neglected fields where a world perishes in sin, proclaiming the warning that the Lord is soon to come with power and great glory, teaching the Word, opening the Scriptures, and laboring in humility as evangelists, colporteurs, and canvassers. God calls for a thousand at work where now there is but one, and fulfilling this revives faith and first love when hearts are humbled.
Varied forms of service united in making mercy known fulfill the command, including speaking and translating the written word into different languages in Christ's name and power, with obstacles removed, hearts opened, and truth confirmed as He works with His servants. Publications concerning the Saviour's soon coming carried from city to city and country to country, translated into every tongue, and circulated like autumn leaves, with house-to-house canvassing, Bible readings, writing books, and entering homes, carry the message where people are. Schools are to develop and train ministers and other capable workers to take truth into highways and byways to bring faith. Preaching is to meet people wherever they can be reached, in meetinghouses, churches, halls, homes, streets, and other open places, with no venue limiting the work, following Christ's example of outdoor teaching. Outdoor meetings and tent meetings have precedent in 1841, 1842, and 1843 and renewed urgency in 1909 to carry the last warning while souls are lost without effort.
Healing the sick in Jesus' name confirms the worldwide commission and testifies to His power to heal the soul, continuing the ministry of the great Medical Missionary who is no longer in the world in person. Medical missionary lines answer the appointment to go without the churches into a world perishing in sin, to cut souls loose from Satan's chains, add stars to Christ's crown, and bring the quickening, sanctifying influence of the Spirit to the church. Believers teach health of body and soul together, bringing great Bible questions into the very heart of society to reform and convert all classes and prepare them for the kingdom and the mansions for those who love Him. Christian institutions including sanitariums are among the means for openly proclaiming rather than hiding the gospel, yet proclamation remains central and medical care is to support, not replace or absorb its resources. Small sanitariums in many places rather than a few mammoth institutions give patients messages bringing health to soul, making up God's number, converting infidels, and leading through restored health to look to Christ as Healer of soul and body.
Tithes and offerings returned to the treasury are invested in this entrusted worldwide work, so those receiving truth support its spread to every creature and provide means for laborers already in the field and for sending still more into unworked places ripe for harvest. Returning means for missionary advance shares even when personal labor can no longer continue in the reward of the closing work of the third angel's message to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. There is no time for building grand edifices or hiding talents of ability under a bushel and burying in the world the means that should carry the work forward, but families move into mission fields as faithful stewards, sacrificing soul, body, and spirit and uniting human influence and energies with heavenly agencies. The command itself guarantees resources sufficient, with talents increasing by soul-winning as human planting and watering is joined to God giving increase, and faithful stewardship acts with equality and impartiality rather than lavishing on one part while others lack.
The commission is marching orders to be obeyed regardless of doubts about success, cost, human plans, or contrary reasoning, and not decided by whether results appear to justify expense. Lack of resources and seemingly impossible circumstances do not release from duty, but workers advance in faith trusting God to provide, open the way, and sustain every obedient laborer, with angels preparing the way. Human authorities could not stop the apostles, who were bound to proclaim what God commissioned. Opposition, prejudice, and hardship do not excuse retreat into one's own country or existing churches, but call for courageous faithful effort among unbelievers to convert them, moved by the worth of souls revealed at the cross and a love reaching beyond this life.
The work belongs to Christ and is done as His instruments in His name and methods, following His example among Jews and those of other nations who did not know God yet longed for hope, speaking hope, healing, freeing from sin, and serving others rather than pleasing self. It requires tender compassion for the lost, afflicted, sick, and suffering, feeding the hungry, doing good, partaking of His nature, and working in Him. Aggressive forward movement allows no retrograde or backward step even when skepticism and disloyalty prevail, but preaches pure clean unadulterated Bible truth with power, with whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, in self-denial and self-sacrifice, learning meekness and lowliness, taking up the cross, while the Lord cares for results and the Spirit removes the veil to open mind and soul to the Word. Deeper consecration having all of Jesus and none of self, with eye single to God's glory, no selfish thought, doing good as opportunity comes, giving as prospered, seeking the common good not personal benefit, and joining hands with personal interests at His disposal because purchased by His blood, brings fresh beams of light that rejoice the heart and new zeal to place before other minds.
Labor and gifts to support those who go are required by the continuing commission, so Christian service is not to be directed entirely toward helping the poor.
Faithfulness Warnings and Fulfillment
The last commission before departure, given as hands were lifted in blessing, to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, has not been fully obeyed by professed followers, and salvation depends on obedience with each person to decide whether to qualify for the appointed work or bury the talent in the earth. Neglect of this worldwide preaching in large measure leaves churches weak despite much labor and many plans to keep them alive, while obedience breaks up that lifeless condition. The work is to be done in genuine forgetfulness of self and dependence by faith on Jesus to His name's glory, with heart, mind and speech taken possession of by the divine theme and the message presented in fervency of the Spirit. With it stands the promise of Christ with His workers even to the end, working with them and confirming the word with signs following, so that when the Word is ministered under God's supervision and the Holy Spirit bears confirmation, results follow because God's Word is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword and His promise is sure. Entering discipleship makes each believer a laborer with Christ in drawing people to God, and the commission calls those who have lost their first love to renewed faith and work. Those who know the truth for this time are required to go forth from centers into neglected fields, into all the world to every creature, to highways and hedges where a world is perishing in sin.
That going forth means proclaiming the warning that the Lord is soon to come with power and great glory, cooperating with Christ to draw men to God, teaching the Word, opening the Scriptures, and laboring in humility as evangelists, colporteurs and canvassers. God calls for one thousand at work where now there is but one, and faith and first love are revived when hearts are humbled before God and this commission is fulfilled. Fulfillment is possible because Christ has power to accomplish the work laid upon Him, so failure to carry it out does not show that God's Word has lost its power but that people have chosen to disobey. This holds even for the formerly enslaved people of the Southern States remaining in ignorance and sin, whose poor condition does not make the commission impossible.
Like Israel which stopped after partial conquest of Canaan instead of occupying the whole land, Christians who gather where they can enjoy gospel privileges but do not carry salvation to people beyond them fail their duty. The commission requires carrying the gospel throughout the world including new regions and preaching it to every person, taking the message beyond places of privilege into unreached territory. Such unfaithfulness in settling for what has already been reached leaves the church unable to receive the promised blessing and at risk of being set aside, forfeiting the blessing tied to obedience and failing God's purpose. Obeying it required giving the neglected Southern field its proportionate share of ministry, since those who had received light were responsible for cultivating that part of the vineyard. The neglected condition of the work in the Southern states stands as a reproach against those who claim to be fulfilling the commission given just before the ascension.
All people must hear the message of warning, for the commission to take the gospel into all the world is joined with the Christian race in which those who run with patience receive the unfading crown of life. It is carried out through mission work that teaches people the way of the Lord. The power promised to the first disciples is promised to present believers where they place themselves to receive it, the same power that enabled preaching so mighty that thousands were converted in a day. Fulfilling it means warning fellow beings, working for neighbors in the home field, doing earnest, sanctified, evangelical work for the unenlightened, entering unworked cities, making centers of truth, and bringing Bible truth before many to prepare a people to stand in the day of the Lord. Leaving fellow beings unwarned forfeits Heaven's approval. Every child of God has this high and holy mission to prepare a people for the day of God by active, continuing service, so settling into ease, leaving a place of usefulness for worldly advantage, or fleeing duty because of opposition or persecution silences the gospel worker and frustrates the mission.
Each individual is commanded to preach the gospel throughout the world, using God-given speaking and reasoning abilities under the influence of God's Spirit to reach people both near and far. Different persons are fitted for different branches of the work, and doing one's own part unselfishly is obedience. Obedience calls for searching God's Word with interest so that its entrance gives light, with simplicity of heart and mind and willingness to be taught by the Holy Spirit in order to open the Word of life to others. As light received is communicated to others, the Holy Spirit gives increased light and fills the heart with the joy of the Lord. Workers are sent into all the world to vindicate the claims of Christ and write His name on hearts by carrying the gospel to every dark corner, a commission fulfilled by canvassers going from house to house, conversing with people and presenting publications, with the intelligent, God-fearing, truth-loving canvasser occupying a position equal to that of the gospel minister. The work must never get above simplicity but be done in humble walking with God so the Holy Spirit can attend the effort, with workers carrying the fragrance of Christ's life, and entering this field gives experience in faith and increases knowledge of the Scriptures because as workers impart the light given them they receive more to impart.
Fulfilling the command to take the gospel to everyone everywhere requires praying in faith for the knowledge, wisdom and grace that Jesus alone can give, and sharing with others what is received, and this work saves souls and brings rejoicing in heaven. It comes from a burden for perishing souls and an unrest of mind that cannot be restrained, and it causes growth in grace. Neglecting this duty to help others see the importance of present truth leaves dissatisfaction and an unpleasant, complaining, criticizing frame of mind that Satan uses. Obeying it requires giving up living for pleasure and selfish gratification of self in order to draw the world to Christ. It belongs alongside using God's gifts to bless humanity and care for those in need as part of the work entrusted to His people. It belongs to the assurance that the risen Christ lives and will devote Himself to His work and bless those who believe. Those who hold means are stewards and not owners and must support those who can go into fields white for harvest in many places, not merely one place, using means for advancement with equality and impartiality. Spending a large amount in one part of the vineyard while refusing to see the necessities of other parts and ignoring their entreaties is selfishness and selfish ambition to receive praise of men, and lavishly providing one place with facilities while depriving other places of facilities needed to honor the Lord and erect memorials in fields to be added to His kingdom is misappropriation of His goods for which God holds men guilty and accountable.
Christ's ministry among the Jews showed the scope of the command to carry the gospel throughout the world to all people including those beyond the Jews who do not know God or the truth but long for hope, for He spoke hope to people from other nations, healed them, and set an example for His disciples to follow everywhere. The gospel work carries forward His mission of freeing people from sin, and He gives power to those who serve, while His life of serving others rather than pleasing Himself teaches the self-denial and self-sacrifice required of His workers. The command calls His people to disperse across the earth rather than remain concentrated in one place or gather in one place, and the disciples' scattering from Jerusalem under persecution illustrates how the gospel reached the inhabited world. Believers risked becoming absorbed in protecting and strengthening the Jerusalem church instead of preparing new believers to share the gospel with those who had not heard it, but persecution scattered them and they preached wherever they went, beginning the spread beyond Jerusalem. The commission applies across every distinction including Jew and Gentile, learned and unlearned, and people in high or low positions. Paul accepted this obligation to labor for people of every class when he accepted Christ, his conversion turning him from persecuting followers to devoting his life to serving Christ. The apostles' work was to begin in Jerusalem even among those who had rejected and killed Jesus, because some there had secretly believed or were ready to accept Him, and as eyewitnesses they were to testify to Jesus and His resurrection, explain the prophecies about Him, and show how they had been fulfilled.
After the ascension the work on earth was entrusted to those who had received the gospel, the church is responsible for carrying it forward, and God holds it accountable for receiving or rejecting that commission. The church has no other agency for proclaiming the truth: its members are to open God's word to people in darkness rather than wait for angels to announce the message audibly. Missionary labor was made plain and repeated often lest the mission and work of the church be lost sight of, for before leaving the disciples plans were made and work set in order to impress the church with its missionary character, that its work is to diffuse the gospel of truth in all directions and carry light and peace with earnest longing to those in the darkness of error, those nigh and afar off. The whole church is responsible for fulfilling it, and every member who has come to a knowledge of the truth is held accountable with every power enlisted. It means circulating the message of truth in all directions and carrying tidings of light and peace, hope and joy to those in the darkness of error, to those in the highways and those in the hedges, to all nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples. There is no boundary, to the heights and to the depths, until everyone hears and everyone receives light and truth and transmits it to others. Christ left His gospel to the piety of His followers with no other plan and no other agency, making the human agent the channel of light to others. It requires entire surrender to God and entire dependence on Him to work with Him and for Him, fulfilled by practicing the truth in word and in deed so believers become witnesses whom the truth makes free. All who are born again share this sacred, holy ministry, requiring daily renewed conversion and cleansing from every habit and practice that hinders influence, so their light shines before men in good works. Obeying the command to preach the gospel throughout the world to every person means refusing to obstruct those who want to turn from error and come to Christ, even at the cost of dominions, titles, or life.
The risen Christ commanded His disciples to go out to seek people everywhere rather than wait for them to come, and to proclaim the good news to every person of every rank, class, nation and tongue.
The charge was given with all authority as His atoning work was complete, and it was not limited to Israel or to the first disciples but rests on the church in every age to the end of time as long as sinners remain to hear it.
To preach the gospel is to preach Christ, His life, death, love and power to forgive, renew and save, calling all to believe and be baptized unto salvation with the warning that unbelief brings condemnation.
The duty belongs to every converted soul, not to ministers alone, each working in his own place with his own gifts to teach, live the truth, and let light shine in deeds as well as words.
Obedience is joined to His constant presence, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and confirming signs in casting out evil, healing the sick and opening hearts, so the work is done under the shield of Omnipotence.
It therefore requires going to new and neglected fields at home and abroad instead of settling where privileges are already enjoyed, scattering means, workers and publications abroad, and advancing promptly by faith while probation lingers.
Setting and Wording
The risen Christ spoke the words to the eleven as they ate, after He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart for not believing those who had seen Him risen. It was His instruction concerning the work they were to carry on in the earth according to the example He had set in His ministry, His last commission before He left them, given as He lifted up His hands and blessed them just before He was received up into heaven to sit at the right hand of God. He had opened their understanding to the meaning of the prophecies concerning Himself, together with the assurance that all power was given Him in heaven and on earth. It was the work Jesus left for the disciples to take up just where He left it, a work they would fully understand only when the Holy Spirit came upon them in full measure and illuminated their minds. When the command was given the disciples still held their old hope that Jesus would take His place upon the throne of David at Jerusalem and restore the kingdom to Israel, and they hoped the descent of the Holy Ghost would influence the Jewish people to accept Jesus.
The command was given with boundless authority and all power in heaven and earth, as Christ stood but a step from His heavenly throne. He was on His way to be honored by angels, principalities and powers and to enter upon His mediatorial work, announcing that His sacrifice in behalf of man was full and complete, the conditions of the atonement fulfilled, and the work He came to do accomplished. He stood a step from the completion of His great sacrifice for the world, advancing with His army of heavenly angels, and the word was to be carried out under the shield of Omnipotence. His first act in heaven corresponded with it in the sending of His Holy Spirit in rich abundance as the heavenly endowment for the work begun at Jerusalem.
The commission was first given to the twelve in the upper chamber and then given to a larger number when all the believers who could be called together were assembled on a mountain in Galilee. It was repeated again and again in different forms so the disciples would grasp its significance and take in its meaning after His death and resurrection and ascension. Go was His last word spoken to His disciples and the last indication of His will while He was upon the earth.
The verse enlarges the earlier restriction to go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and not to Gentiles or to any city of the Samaritans. It breaks down the walls of partition erected by the Jewish nation and opens the world before the disciples as their field of labor to people nigh and afar off, to the inhabited world. Given by the One who is both Creator and Redeemer of the world, it sets forth a new order of things in which love like Christ's love is to reach all. It proclaims a faith and worship without barriers of caste or country, suited to every people, nation, and class, not to be kept within the Jewish nation, whose leaders' exclusiveness had made them unfit to be the light of the world. No one was to be left without hearing the warning, for the commission included the Gentiles and fulfilled the foretold gathering of people who had not been God's people.
Go into all the world means the disciples and those who succeed them are to go out to seek people rather than wait for people to come to them. Every creature means every person with reasoning faculties to understand it, every person in the whole world and everyone in it. Its reach includes all the inhabitants of the earth, high and low, rich and poor, of every rank, class, nation and tongue, regardless of rank or wealth. The command rules out prejudice based on nationality, place, or social standing and calls people to love the whole human family, regarding every needy person as a brother, whether neighbor or stranger, friend or enemy, Jew and Gentile, learned and unlearned, and people in high or low positions.
Scope and Continuance
The command sends followers throughout the entire world to preach the gospel to every person, leaving none unwarned and passing no one by. Though Christ is no longer present on earth in person, His followers are to continue His work of bringing the gospel to the world so it is not left in darkness. What God asks of those who give themselves and all they have to Him is answered here: they are to use their gifts and service to carry the message to others. The message is to be carried by human agents, while Christ works through the Holy Spirit to confirm it, make it effective, and bring people to conversion, an understanding faith, and obedience to His commands.
The commission has no stated time limit and continues as long as sinners remain to hear the gospel, reaching from the apostles to the last believer who shares in preaching. The promise of spiritual gifts and accompanying signs is joined to this commission and extends beyond the apostles to believers, presented as part of that continuing work with no limit to a particular age of the church. It belongs not to the apostles alone but to everyone, with the broader meaning that each one who hears must join in saying come and in carrying the good news to the whole world and to every person. It applies not only to the disciples then present but to all who believe in Christ until the end of time, resting on the church in all ages and calling for active service rather than words alone. Obedience to this command brings the Holy Spirit as guide and counselor, and Christ remains true, working with those who minister in His name and bringing mercy and blessing.
The commission given to the first disciples is given to present believers, successors, and all who understand the plan of salvation. It includes as missionaries all who would believe on His name, so the obligation belongs to every converted soul and to the large number, not only to ordained ministers. Those who have received increased light in the last days are to take the gospel of saving grace to every people, with the message centered on the crucified and risen Saviour reaching both nearby communities and far-off lands through preaching, personal service, and faithful daily living. The same power promised to the first disciples is promised to present believers where they place themselves to receive it, the power that enabled thousands to be converted in a day. Fulfilling it means warning fellow beings, working for neighbors in the home field, doing earnest, sanctified, evangelical work for the unenlightened, entering unworked cities, making centers of truth, and bringing Bible truth before many to prepare a people to stand in the day of the Lord, for leaving fellow beings unwarned forfeits Heaven's approval. As Christ's witnesses believers are assigned the special work of revealing the character of God to a world lying in sin by living Christ before the world, which calls listless church members to examine how they have fulfilled this commission.
The apostles obeyed by going forth and preaching everywhere as the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word with signs following. They carried out this worldwide instruction concerning the work they were to carry on in the earth according to the example set in Christ's ministry, continuing what He did when on earth working for sin-cursed cities. The commission was given with all power and with the promise of His continual presence, and obeyed after the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles it carried power that converted thousands in a day. Converted believers who are clustered together must hear and heed it by going forth in the same way. Within a single generation they carried the gospel to every nation under heaven.
The gospel is to be proclaimed throughout the world, and the command applies to the message Miller and his associates carried, which they believed God had committed to them to give to the world. Their proclamation that the judgment was near and the everlasting kingdom would soon be ushered in was a later counterpart to the disciples' worldwide preaching. Their message, like the disciples' message about the kingdom, rested on a fulfilled portion of the same great prophetic period.
Gospel Message Proclaimed
To preach the gospel is to preach Christ Himself, His unselfish life and history, His condescension and sufferings, His shameful death on the cross, and His unchanging and unparalleled love. That preaching lifts Him up before all, makes known His love and suffering for others, centers on Him and His righteousness, His sacrifice to put away sin, and His power to save, transform, forgive, renew human nature, clothe the soul in His righteousness, restore right-mindedness, and prepare sinners to work with God. His name unites believers, is their watchword and authority against sin, and faith in His name marks them as Christians who overcome sin, while His promise to remain with them to the end confirms their teaching of all He taught.
The gospel so preached calls for belief joined to baptism unto salvation and warns that unbelief brings condemnation, so that acceptance or rejection decides the result. It proclaims the conditions of salvation, sets the truth in clear lines with personal interest in every creature, and includes healing the sick and comforting the sorrowful after Christ's example. Those who believe are followed by confirming signs as the Lord works with the preachers, casting out devils, speaking with new tongues, taking up serpents without harm, drinking deadly things without hurt by unseen protection in eating and drinking, and recovering the sick through laying on of hands as gospel truth expels Satan's workings and heals bodies.
The message to every creature is God's last message of mercy to a perishing race, carried everywhere by self-sacrificing labor and circulation of publications with faith shown in active work. It includes the definite present invitation that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, that all things are now ready, and that the Lord of glory is soon coming in the clouds with power and great glory, to go to every nation, tongue, and people and not be confined to churches already knowing truth or to favored localities. It combines the three angels' messages in a threefold final warning, and includes every feature of the third angel's message to be proclaimed everywhere in simple methods and practical compassionate deeds that no climate, poverty, ignorance, or prejudice can prevent from meeting human need. That worldwide work requires well-organized effort in different parts of the field and in the cities to reach men and women from highways and byways, belonging not to ordained ministers alone but to all desiring soul salvation, even families locating quietly in dark places to let Christ's life shine until ministerial help is needed.
The gospel is glad tidings for all, to be made plain and simple so it can be impressed on the mind, taught as little children are taught, lived before people and carried into their homes in distant lands and nearby unconverted towns and cities. It is God's power unto salvation and the only message leading to eternal life, to be shared freely without barriers, human wisdom, or high-flown language, revealing God’s character and Christ as altogether lovely with self submerged and never exalted. Like the invitation to the great supper it calls all who will to come to the costly prepared banquet of Jesus' love, without putting difficult subjects first or bringing theories that create controversy and keep men away, while schools and teachers instruct the ignorant with kindness shown in loving deeds. Those having light must impart it to all around them, even where people are as sheep without a shepherd, without Christ and without hope, hungering for light, for every soul is valued by God, with special care for the stranger, outcast, and poor weak in moral power under Christ as rightful sovereign of highways, hedges, and byways.
Preaching is more than sermons from a pulpit and more than one way of speaking, including repeating precious holy truths to every ear, spreading Christian principles by precept and example, and teaching all things Christ commanded including truths for this time. It is done through deeds, a godly consistent life, letting light shine, self-denial for others' good, love for souls above riches, teaching and comforting, reflecting truth in word and deed, and showing the beauty of Christ's life in earnest self-sacrificing service. It follows Christ's daily example so love to God and to fellow men redeemed by Jesus is seen as life's motive power, enlightening the ignorant, encouraging the discouraged, healing the sick, warning those who have not heard mercy, showing tender sympathy, pitying love, and care for physical needs joined to ministry of the soul to open hearts for clearer truth. Fulfilling it comes from a burden and unrest for perishing souls that cannot be restrained and brings growth in grace, while neglect leaves dissatisfaction and complaining criticism used by Satan.
Promised Power and Signs
The command to go carries with it the assurance of complete success, for obedience is joined to the promise of all power in heaven and earth and of constant presence to the end of the world. The work is to be done under the shield of Omnipotence, with the gift and renewing power of the Holy Spirit and with Heaven's approval, and with Christ Himself as Chief Workman taking the whole work into His own hands and taking responsibility for its success. He asks only the cooperation of the human agent, working in His appointed way in supreme love to God and love to others as He loved, in constant watching, waiting, praying and working, walking by faith and not by sight and looking to Jesus. The one who loves Him most will do the greatest amount of good, and humble workers are to be encouraged and not restrained, for moving in faith trusting in God brings experience and success. The commission is the great missionary charter to go just where the Lord sends to bear His message and do His work, preaching to save souls by bringing them to a knowledge of the truth, since acquaintance with God's truth is the only means of sanctification.
The disciples were made co-laborers with their Redeemer in saving the world, going forth in His name with all power behind them and with the ministry of His Spirit promised to them. The path is not plain and easy but calls for sharing in His sufferings, with the assurance that if united with one another and with Him His righteousness will shine upon them and from them to a world constantly increasing in wickedness. They were to catch radiance from the Saviour's presence and let it shine upon those walking in the shadow of death, lifting Him up, beginning in Jerusalem before those who resisted His mercy and love and then carrying the truth to all nations, since the work was not to commence and end in Jerusalem. When they went forth everywhere preaching, the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message with signs following. The work is to be done in genuine forgetfulness of self and dependence by faith on Jesus to His name's glory, with heart, mind and speech taken possession of by the divine theme and the message presented in fervency of the Spirit, for when the Word is ministered under God's supervision and the Spirit bears confirmation, results follow because God's Word is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword and His promise is sure.
The promise of spiritual gifts and confirming signs joined to the commission extends beyond the apostles to believers, with no stated limit to a particular age of the church. It continues as long as sinners remain to hear the gospel and as long as the gospel is preached, reaching the last believer who shares in preaching. The same power promised to the first disciples is promised to present believers where they place themselves to receive it, enabling preaching so mighty that thousands were converted in a day. In the disciples' witness three thousand were converted in one day, for the Holy Spirit gives power and effectiveness to this missionary work. Fulfilling the commission therefore means warning fellow beings, working for neighbors in the home field, doing earnest, sanctified, evangelical work for the unenlightened, entering unworked cities, making centers of truth, bringing Bible truth before many to prepare a people to stand in the day of the Lord, and every church member joining by inviting others to receive the water of life, for leaving fellow beings unwarned forfeits Heaven's approval.
Those who believe are followed by confirming signs as the Lord works with the preachers. These signs are casting out devils in His name, speaking with new tongues and new languages, taking up serpents and handling them without harm, drinking deadly things without hurt, and recovering of the sick through laying on of hands. Belief joined to baptism brings salvation while unbelief brings condemnation. As gospel truth expels Satan's dark workings on human minds and heals bodies, God gives unseen protection to His believing people from deadly things taken in eating and drinking. Studying this instruction as it should be studied keeps from advocating theories with no foundation in the Word of God, and when diligently studied and lived it brings power in proclaiming the truth so souls are converted.
The promise that believers will lay hands on the sick and they shall recover means God will hear prayer offered for the sick and heal many when the sick are humbled and meek and will remain humble and give the glory to God instead of becoming exalted or spoiled by the manifestation. All are invited to learn His meekness and lowliness of heart so the Lord may work by the Holy Spirit upon bodies through living faith, for this blessing requires great humility because self-glorification keeps God from entrusting it. Cherished unbelief hardens the heart and leaves it unresponsive even when sufficient evidence for faith is present. The message is to be carried by human agents, while Christ works through the Holy Spirit to confirm it, make it effective, and bring people to conversion, an understanding faith, and obedience to His commands. He works with them, removes obstacles, opens hearts, and confirms the proclamation of truth, so that while human effort alone is weakness, the cooperating soul, body and spirit made able by the Spirit can accomplish much. Those who accept Bible truth receive new hearts and speak with changed words, going out preaching His gospel while the Lord works with them to confirm the message, and He supplies His workers with the help they need to teach it to every person throughout the world, translated into all languages and presented in ways people can understand.
All Believers Called
The commission lays its solemn duty of personal service on each follower of Christ, on every converted soul who receives His life, not on ordained ministers or missionaries in the ordinary sense alone. Men and women, children and youth, old and young, learned and unlearned, laymen as well as ministers, are accepted as laborers and called to preach the gospel where they are, nearby, or in a more distant field. Faithful work done wherever circumstances allow can reach in influence to the ends of the earth, and obedience need not wait for years of routine preparation, for to demand such delay is a decided error already done too much.
All who receive life in Christ are appointed to work for the salvation of fellow men, sharing Christ's own longing for the saving of the lost and serving in cooperation with God. All upon whom God's blessings, gifts, possessions, and opportunities have been bestowed must answer with actual service, using every gift, ability, and means to bring the gospel to others and advance His kingdom. What God asks of those who give themselves and all they have to Him is that their service be employed to proclaim the good news to every creature.
Followers do not all fill the same place, for different persons are fitted for different branches, roles, abilities, and talents, yet for all there is a place and a work. Doing one's own part unselfishly is obedience to the command, without envy and evil surmising, with one church rejoicing in the success and triumph of all. Each is to ask God where his post of duty is and what he shall do for the Master, searching God's Word with interest and simplicity of heart and mind, willing to be taught by the Holy Spirit to open the Word of life to others. As the light received is communicated, the Holy Spirit gives increased light and fills the heart with the joy of the Lord.
God has organized His instrumentalities to draw all men unto Him, and He sends forth to His work many who have not been dedicated by the laying on of hands, without first asking permission of earthly legislative councils or of those who think they must plan His work. If finite men to whom He commits His work do not bar the way, He will send forth laborers into His vineyard, for He sees the end from the beginning, anticipates every want, and provides for every emergency. He arms even the weakest with might through the Holy Spirit, Christ's representative, to press forward unto victory in unison with heavenly agencies against the confederacy of evil and not against brethren. Lay members share the truth and lead others to obey and to follow Christ's commands even in their daily employment, and no one is exempt from service though not all are called to preach.
Entering discipleship makes each believer a laborer with Christ in drawing people to God, pledging in baptismal vows earnest, self-denying efforts to promote soul-saving even in the hardest parts of the great harvest field. Everyone who has eaten of Christ is to labor in all simplicity to teach others what they must do to be saved, teaching all things Christ commanded including the truths for this time, going at once, putting away superficial excuses, and no longer grieving the Spirit by delay. This ministry belongs to all who are born again and requires entire surrender to God, entire dependence on Him, daily renewed conversion, and cleansing from every habit that hinders influence, so that by practicing the truth in word and deed believers become witnesses whom the truth makes free and whose light shines before men in good works. Such burden for perishing souls brings growth in grace, rest, peace, happiness, and renewed first love and faith, while neglect leaves dissatisfaction and a complaining, criticizing frame of mind that Satan uses.
Methods Means and Stewardship
The command is to go outward to seek the lost and open new fields ripe for harvest, not to gather in one place for advanced study or settle where gospel privileges are already enjoyed. It does not wait for years of routine preparation or college training in higher classics, and to demand such delay is decided error. The light of Christ's righteousness received by faith is to be communicated at once, with laymen accepted as laborers alongside ministers, filled with the Spirit to set forth the unsearchable riches. Young people are to go forth by faith two and two under Christ's yoke as gospel medical missionaries, depending on God rather than man for wisdom and success, searching the Scriptures and presenting its truths, since His presence is worth more than years of training. Like Israel stopping after partial conquest of Canaan instead of occupying the whole land, to promote new theories among those who already know but do not obey while unreached people remain unwarned is unfaithfulness that forfeits blessing and risks being set aside.
Centralization and concentration in a few places disobeys the One who loves the whole world, for the work is to advance proportionately wherever openings arise. Interests are not to be centered in Battle Creek or Jerusalem while other portions are left without help and foreign fields are hindered, but large churches are to scatter to the four quarters and ministers maintained where there are no Sabbathkeepers. Large centers are to be broken up and means distributed to establish plants, stations, memorials, schools, sanitariums, and meetinghouses in many places, in cities of America and throughout the world, including Washington D.C. as the capital and heart of the nation, the South, and heathen lands at home and abroad. To spend lavishly to provide facilities in one part of the vineyard while depriving other fields of memorials to honor the Lord and ignoring their entreaties is selfishness, selfish ambition, seeking praise of men, and misappropriation of goods for which stewards, not owners, of means are held guilty and accountable. The scattering of the disciples from Jerusalem under persecution shows how the gospel reached the inhabited world.
The work begins at home before going to distant and new fields, with home missions receiving first attention. Jerusalem was first, then new fields, so family, neighbors, own country, crowded cities, villages, country byways, and places like Cooranbong are each a home mission field where the nearest duty is taken up first. The whole church bears this missionary character, with every member who knows the truth accountable and every power enlisted to circulate tidings of light and peace, hope and joy to those nigh and afar off, in highways and hedges, to heights and depths, until everyone hears and transmits the light to others. From centers workers are to go into neglected fields where a world perishes in sin, proclaiming the warning that the Lord is soon to come with power and great glory, teaching the Word, opening the Scriptures, and laboring in humility as evangelists, colporteurs, and canvassers. God calls for a thousand at work where now there is but one, and fulfilling this revives faith and first love when hearts are humbled.
Varied forms of service united in making mercy known fulfill the command, including speaking and translating the written word into different languages in Christ's name and power, with obstacles removed, hearts opened, and truth confirmed as He works with His servants. Publications concerning the Saviour's soon coming carried from city to city and country to country, translated into every tongue, and circulated like autumn leaves, with house-to-house canvassing, Bible readings, writing books, and entering homes, carry the message where people are. Schools are to develop and train ministers and other capable workers to take truth into highways and byways to bring faith. Preaching is to meet people wherever they can be reached, in meetinghouses, churches, halls, homes, streets, and other open places, with no venue limiting the work, following Christ's example of outdoor teaching. Outdoor meetings and tent meetings have precedent in 1841, 1842, and 1843 and renewed urgency in 1909 to carry the last warning while souls are lost without effort.
Healing the sick in Jesus' name confirms the worldwide commission and testifies to His power to heal the soul, continuing the ministry of the great Medical Missionary who is no longer in the world in person. Medical missionary lines answer the appointment to go without the churches into a world perishing in sin, to cut souls loose from Satan's chains, add stars to Christ's crown, and bring the quickening, sanctifying influence of the Spirit to the church. Believers teach health of body and soul together, bringing great Bible questions into the very heart of society to reform and convert all classes and prepare them for the kingdom and the mansions for those who love Him. Christian institutions including sanitariums are among the means for openly proclaiming rather than hiding the gospel, yet proclamation remains central and medical care is to support, not replace or absorb its resources. Small sanitariums in many places rather than a few mammoth institutions give patients messages bringing health to soul, making up God's number, converting infidels, and leading through restored health to look to Christ as Healer of soul and body.
Tithes and offerings returned to the treasury are invested in this entrusted worldwide work, so those receiving truth support its spread to every creature and provide means for laborers already in the field and for sending still more into unworked places ripe for harvest. Returning means for missionary advance shares even when personal labor can no longer continue in the reward of the closing work of the third angel's message to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. There is no time for building grand edifices or hiding talents of ability under a bushel and burying in the world the means that should carry the work forward, but families move into mission fields as faithful stewards, sacrificing soul, body, and spirit and uniting human influence and energies with heavenly agencies. The command itself guarantees resources sufficient, with talents increasing by soul-winning as human planting and watering is joined to God giving increase, and faithful stewardship acts with equality and impartiality rather than lavishing on one part while others lack.
The commission is marching orders to be obeyed regardless of doubts about success, cost, human plans, or contrary reasoning, and not decided by whether results appear to justify expense. Lack of resources and seemingly impossible circumstances do not release from duty, but workers advance in faith trusting God to provide, open the way, and sustain every obedient laborer, with angels preparing the way. Human authorities could not stop the apostles, who were bound to proclaim what God commissioned. Opposition, prejudice, and hardship do not excuse retreat into one's own country or existing churches, but call for courageous faithful effort among unbelievers to convert them, moved by the worth of souls revealed at the cross and a love reaching beyond this life.
The work belongs to Christ and is done as His instruments in His name and methods, following His example among Jews and those of other nations who did not know God yet longed for hope, speaking hope, healing, freeing from sin, and serving others rather than pleasing self. It requires tender compassion for the lost, afflicted, sick, and suffering, feeding the hungry, doing good, partaking of His nature, and working in Him. Aggressive forward movement allows no retrograde or backward step even when skepticism and disloyalty prevail, but preaches pure clean unadulterated Bible truth with power, with whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, in self-denial and self-sacrifice, learning meekness and lowliness, taking up the cross, while the Lord cares for results and the Spirit removes the veil to open mind and soul to the Word. Deeper consecration having all of Jesus and none of self, with eye single to God's glory, no selfish thought, doing good as opportunity comes, giving as prospered, seeking the common good not personal benefit, and joining hands with personal interests at His disposal because purchased by His blood, brings fresh beams of light that rejoice the heart and new zeal to place before other minds.
Labor and gifts to support those who go are required by the continuing commission, so Christian service is not to be directed entirely toward helping the poor.
Faithfulness Warnings and Fulfillment
The last commission before departure, given as hands were lifted in blessing, to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, has not been fully obeyed by professed followers, and salvation depends on obedience with each person to decide whether to qualify for the appointed work or bury the talent in the earth. Neglect of this worldwide preaching in large measure leaves churches weak despite much labor and many plans to keep them alive, while obedience breaks up that lifeless condition. The work is to be done in genuine forgetfulness of self and dependence by faith on Jesus to His name's glory, with heart, mind and speech taken possession of by the divine theme and the message presented in fervency of the Spirit. With it stands the promise of Christ with His workers even to the end, working with them and confirming the word with signs following, so that when the Word is ministered under God's supervision and the Holy Spirit bears confirmation, results follow because God's Word is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword and His promise is sure. Entering discipleship makes each believer a laborer with Christ in drawing people to God, and the commission calls those who have lost their first love to renewed faith and work. Those who know the truth for this time are required to go forth from centers into neglected fields, into all the world to every creature, to highways and hedges where a world is perishing in sin.
That going forth means proclaiming the warning that the Lord is soon to come with power and great glory, cooperating with Christ to draw men to God, teaching the Word, opening the Scriptures, and laboring in humility as evangelists, colporteurs and canvassers. God calls for one thousand at work where now there is but one, and faith and first love are revived when hearts are humbled before God and this commission is fulfilled. Fulfillment is possible because Christ has power to accomplish the work laid upon Him, so failure to carry it out does not show that God's Word has lost its power but that people have chosen to disobey. This holds even for the formerly enslaved people of the Southern States remaining in ignorance and sin, whose poor condition does not make the commission impossible.
Like Israel which stopped after partial conquest of Canaan instead of occupying the whole land, Christians who gather where they can enjoy gospel privileges but do not carry salvation to people beyond them fail their duty. The commission requires carrying the gospel throughout the world including new regions and preaching it to every person, taking the message beyond places of privilege into unreached territory. Such unfaithfulness in settling for what has already been reached leaves the church unable to receive the promised blessing and at risk of being set aside, forfeiting the blessing tied to obedience and failing God's purpose. Obeying it required giving the neglected Southern field its proportionate share of ministry, since those who had received light were responsible for cultivating that part of the vineyard. The neglected condition of the work in the Southern states stands as a reproach against those who claim to be fulfilling the commission given just before the ascension.
All people must hear the message of warning, for the commission to take the gospel into all the world is joined with the Christian race in which those who run with patience receive the unfading crown of life. It is carried out through mission work that teaches people the way of the Lord. The power promised to the first disciples is promised to present believers where they place themselves to receive it, the same power that enabled preaching so mighty that thousands were converted in a day. Fulfilling it means warning fellow beings, working for neighbors in the home field, doing earnest, sanctified, evangelical work for the unenlightened, entering unworked cities, making centers of truth, and bringing Bible truth before many to prepare a people to stand in the day of the Lord. Leaving fellow beings unwarned forfeits Heaven's approval. Every child of God has this high and holy mission to prepare a people for the day of God by active, continuing service, so settling into ease, leaving a place of usefulness for worldly advantage, or fleeing duty because of opposition or persecution silences the gospel worker and frustrates the mission.
Each individual is commanded to preach the gospel throughout the world, using God-given speaking and reasoning abilities under the influence of God's Spirit to reach people both near and far. Different persons are fitted for different branches of the work, and doing one's own part unselfishly is obedience. Obedience calls for searching God's Word with interest so that its entrance gives light, with simplicity of heart and mind and willingness to be taught by the Holy Spirit in order to open the Word of life to others. As light received is communicated to others, the Holy Spirit gives increased light and fills the heart with the joy of the Lord. Workers are sent into all the world to vindicate the claims of Christ and write His name on hearts by carrying the gospel to every dark corner, a commission fulfilled by canvassers going from house to house, conversing with people and presenting publications, with the intelligent, God-fearing, truth-loving canvasser occupying a position equal to that of the gospel minister. The work must never get above simplicity but be done in humble walking with God so the Holy Spirit can attend the effort, with workers carrying the fragrance of Christ's life, and entering this field gives experience in faith and increases knowledge of the Scriptures because as workers impart the light given them they receive more to impart.
Fulfilling the command to take the gospel to everyone everywhere requires praying in faith for the knowledge, wisdom and grace that Jesus alone can give, and sharing with others what is received, and this work saves souls and brings rejoicing in heaven. It comes from a burden for perishing souls and an unrest of mind that cannot be restrained, and it causes growth in grace. Neglecting this duty to help others see the importance of present truth leaves dissatisfaction and an unpleasant, complaining, criticizing frame of mind that Satan uses. Obeying it requires giving up living for pleasure and selfish gratification of self in order to draw the world to Christ. It belongs alongside using God's gifts to bless humanity and care for those in need as part of the work entrusted to His people. It belongs to the assurance that the risen Christ lives and will devote Himself to His work and bless those who believe. Those who hold means are stewards and not owners and must support those who can go into fields white for harvest in many places, not merely one place, using means for advancement with equality and impartiality. Spending a large amount in one part of the vineyard while refusing to see the necessities of other parts and ignoring their entreaties is selfishness and selfish ambition to receive praise of men, and lavishly providing one place with facilities while depriving other places of facilities needed to honor the Lord and erect memorials in fields to be added to His kingdom is misappropriation of His goods for which God holds men guilty and accountable.
Christ's ministry among the Jews showed the scope of the command to carry the gospel throughout the world to all people including those beyond the Jews who do not know God or the truth but long for hope, for He spoke hope to people from other nations, healed them, and set an example for His disciples to follow everywhere. The gospel work carries forward His mission of freeing people from sin, and He gives power to those who serve, while His life of serving others rather than pleasing Himself teaches the self-denial and self-sacrifice required of His workers. The command calls His people to disperse across the earth rather than remain concentrated in one place or gather in one place, and the disciples' scattering from Jerusalem under persecution illustrates how the gospel reached the inhabited world. Believers risked becoming absorbed in protecting and strengthening the Jerusalem church instead of preparing new believers to share the gospel with those who had not heard it, but persecution scattered them and they preached wherever they went, beginning the spread beyond Jerusalem. The commission applies across every distinction including Jew and Gentile, learned and unlearned, and people in high or low positions. Paul accepted this obligation to labor for people of every class when he accepted Christ, his conversion turning him from persecuting followers to devoting his life to serving Christ. The apostles' work was to begin in Jerusalem even among those who had rejected and killed Jesus, because some there had secretly believed or were ready to accept Him, and as eyewitnesses they were to testify to Jesus and His resurrection, explain the prophecies about Him, and show how they had been fulfilled.
After the ascension the work on earth was entrusted to those who had received the gospel, the church is responsible for carrying it forward, and God holds it accountable for receiving or rejecting that commission. The church has no other agency for proclaiming the truth: its members are to open God's word to people in darkness rather than wait for angels to announce the message audibly. Missionary labor was made plain and repeated often lest the mission and work of the church be lost sight of, for before leaving the disciples plans were made and work set in order to impress the church with its missionary character, that its work is to diffuse the gospel of truth in all directions and carry light and peace with earnest longing to those in the darkness of error, those nigh and afar off. The whole church is responsible for fulfilling it, and every member who has come to a knowledge of the truth is held accountable with every power enlisted. It means circulating the message of truth in all directions and carrying tidings of light and peace, hope and joy to those in the darkness of error, to those in the highways and those in the hedges, to all nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples. There is no boundary, to the heights and to the depths, until everyone hears and everyone receives light and truth and transmits it to others. Christ left His gospel to the piety of His followers with no other plan and no other agency, making the human agent the channel of light to others. It requires entire surrender to God and entire dependence on Him to work with Him and for Him, fulfilled by practicing the truth in word and in deed so believers become witnesses whom the truth makes free. All who are born again share this sacred, holy ministry, requiring daily renewed conversion and cleansing from every habit and practice that hinders influence, so their light shines before men in good works. Obeying the command to preach the gospel throughout the world to every person means refusing to obstruct those who want to turn from error and come to Christ, even at the cost of dominions, titles, or life.