Who speaketh now of peace?
"Who seeketh for release? The Cross is strength, the solemn Cross is gain.
The Cross is Jesus' breast.
Here giveth He the rest That to His best belov'd doth still remain.
How sweet an ended strife !
How sweet a dawning life ! Here will I lie as one who draws his breath With ease, and hearken what my Saviour saith Concerning me ; the solemn Cross is gain ;
Who willeth now to choose ?
Who strives to bind or loose? Sweet life, sweet death, sweet triumph and sweet pain.*
* G. Critcliley. ' Dora Greenwell.
Christ's Commission to His Church.
Literature.
Bramston (J. T.), Fratribus, 200.
Brooks (Phillips), The Mystery of Iniquity, 346.
Church (R. W.), Village Sermons, 3rd Ser., 194.
Dawson (W. J.), The Evangelistic Note, 273.
Hodgson (A. P.), Thoughts for the King's Children, 199,
Jefferson (C. E.), The Character of Jesus, 121.
Kuegele (F.), Country Sermons, New Ser., v. 451.
Maclaren (A.), Expositions, St. Mark ix.-xvi., 308.
Martin (S.), Bain upon the Mourn Grass, 126.
Morgan (G. C), The Missionary Manifesto, 1, 55.
Stuart (E. A.), Cliildren of God, 45.
Williams (T. Lloyd), Thy Kingdom Come, 9.
Christian World Pulpit, Ixiii. 346 (Banks) ; Ixvii, 297 (Shepherd) ;
Ixxiii. 284 (Atkin). Contemporary Pulpit, vii. 203 (Hardy).
CHRIST'S COMMISSION TO HIS CHURCH.
Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation.— xvi. 15.
These are the last words recorded of all Christ's communications to His apostles. Let us think what would be the effect on those who heard it of such a parting charge. It made all the difference to the apostles, whether they should simply be holders and possessors of truth and blessings, teachers and ministers in their own place and among their own people of the grace in which they believed, or whether they should be missionaries of it — messengers running to and fro, and never pausing, never resting in their ceaseless and unwearied wander- ings, to carry the news onward and onward, farther and farther on, to ever new hearers and more and more unknown lands. So St. Paul understood it : " From Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum" — the type of all that was barbarous and uncouth — " I have fully preached the gospel of Christ."
Those parting words of Christ put the stamp on Christianity that it was to be a universal religion] a religion, not merely universal in the sense that it should be freely open to all who came to seek for it, but universal in the sense that it should go out and seek for men in their own homes; a religion of conquest and progress in all directions ; a religion which should be satisfied with nothing short of having won over " the whole creation," the tribes of men of every language and colour, from north to south, on whom the sun rises and on whom it sets, to the obedience of Christ, and to the Kingdom of His Father.
The subject therefore is a missionary topic in its widest
sense. We may study it under three main headings : —
I. The Eesponsibility of the Church.
II. The Preparation of the Missionary.
III. The Scope of the Commission.
479
48o THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
I.
The Eesponsibility of the Church.
This is Christ's last great Easter command.
1. The first thought which suggests itself is the practical duty. " Go ye and preach." The matter was literally left in the apostles' hands, it is literally left in ours. Jesus has returned to the throne ; ere departing He announced the distinct command. There it is, and it is age-long in its application, — " Preach," tell of the name and the work of " God manifest in the flesh." First " evangelise," then " disciple the nations." Bring to Christ, then build up in Christ. There are no other orders ; we must think imperially of Christ and the Church, and our anticipations of success must be world-wide in their sweep.
^ It used to be the fashion to laugh at Missions. You know how they are represented and talked about in the pages of Dickens and Thackeray. That time has passed away. It is no longer possible to laugh at them. The serious statesman feek that, if not the missionary, then he knows not who is to create the bond of spiritual fellowship between East and West, Africa and Europe. And he looks eagerly towards this missionary effort. People can no longer laugh. It is the biggest thing in the world that has to be done, and a great and consuming desire has seized the souls of people of all sorts and kinds. The mingling of the nations gives us our great opportunity, our great responsibility. It becomes a watchword — the evangelisation of the world in this generation. These are great desires, ideal desires. Remote, you say. You know not how they are to be realised. What is the use of bothering ourselves with things that seem so far off and unpractical ? That feeling is the contrary of the Bible. The Bible always busies itself with things that are unpractical. The mark of a Saint is that he busies himself with things that are remote and unattainable.^
^ The Duke of Wellington was once asked, " Is it any use to preach the Gospel to the Hindu ? " The Duke said, " What are your marching orders ? " " Oh ! " was the reply, " our marching orders undoubtedly are to ' preach the gospel to every creature.' " "Very well," was the withering answer, "You must obey the command. You have nothing to do with results." ^