INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY.
The Gospel work is a covenant of sacrifice. The Son of God made the one great essential sacrifice, giving Himself for the lost race, and every true disciple enters into that sacrifice. That consecration was one of self-denial for the salvation of men, the great purpose knowing no limitation save the “uttermost parts of the earth.” “The field is the world,” and not a little favored spot here and there. The commission of the chief Missionary to His subordinates is: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.” No true missionary will rest satisfied until this purpose is accomplished. He can not follow the Master’s example and be content to stop short of a finished work. The Lord does not send His co-workers out to traverse the world alone. His assurance is, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” He will not cease His efforts until the work is done, and, altho His own special work is in the heavenly sanctuary, His Spirit accompanies His disciples in their ministrations in the earth. It was not the Lord’s purpose that a few devoted servants should bear the burden of responsibility for carrying the Gospel to the world, and the great mass of disciples devote themselves and their means to providing for themselves in this world. The word “go” applies to all, altho every one can not go into all places. Some may be able to go only a short distance, perhaps not out of their own neighborhood; but their influence may go a great deal farther. Many would be efficient laborers in foreign lands, if they had the means to go with. Others have the means, but may not otherwise be so well qualified. But in some way all working together, with a judicious union and distribution of gifts and material facilities, the field might be quickly covered. The work goes slowly because so few realize that the field is the world, and therefore feel only a limited responsibility—only a “home” responsibility, and a rather light burden for that. In our day the evangelization of the world is easy as compared with any former period. Hardly any place is really inaccessible, and that only from a human view-point. The command to “go into all the world” implies the possibility of going in person, or by means of Gospel literature. He who gave the command to go, also gave the assurance that He had all power in heaven and in earth, and that this power was accessible to those whom He sent out. When the apostles and their contemporary missionaries went out to the then known world, they everywhere had to face not only hostile religions, but hostile civil government. The experience of the Apostle Paul led him to expect persecution everywhere. To the elders of Ephesus he said: “I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there; save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:22-24. A missionary with such a spirit of8faith and persistence would find his way even to the forbidden capital of Tibet, tho he should go in chains, preaching the Gospel as a prisoner of state, and eventually losing his head. To-day conditions are greatly changed. The great powers of earth are nominally Christian, and at present favorable to the spread of the Gospel. Moreover, the facilities for traveling, for speedy communication by mail or by telegraph, the means of printing and circulating the Gospel, the readiness of the Word of God in hundreds of different languages, and the general popularity of the Christian religion in the world, all tend to accelerate its universal proclamation. It would seem that the only thing in the way of a short work is the lack of missionary spirit on the part of those who profess to believe the Gospel—a lack of burden for souls and a want of realization of personal responsibility in the matter. The Christian is debtor to the whole world, to the extent of his ability—as estimated by the Lord—to give the Gospel a universal proclamation.