Christ made full provision for the prosecution
of the work entrusted to the disciples, and took upon Himself
the responsibility of its success. So long as they obeyed His
word, and worked in connection
with Him, they could not fail. Go to all nations, He bade them.
Go to the farthest part of the habitable globe, but know that
My presence will be there. Labor in faith and confidence, for
the time will never come when I will forsake you.
To us also the promise of Christ's abiding
presence is given. The lapse of time has wrought no change in
His parting promise. He is with us today as truly as He was with
the disciplines, and He will be with us "even unto the end."
"Go forth preaching the gospel to
all nations," the Saviour says to us, "that they may
become children of God. I am with you in this work, teaching,
guiding, comforting, strengthening you, giving you success in
your work of self-denial and sacrifice. I will move upon hearts,
convincing them of sin, and turning them from darkness to light,
from disobedience to righteousness. In My light they shall see
light. You will meet the opposition of satanic agencies, but
put your trust in Me. I will never fail you."
Think you not that Christ values those
who live wholly for Him? Think you not that He visits those who,
like the beloved John, are for His sake in hard and trying places?
He finds His faithful ones, and holds communion with them, encouraging
and strengthening them. And angels of God, that excel in strength,
are sent forth by God to minister to His human workers who are
speaking the truth to those who know it not.
To the minister of the gospel God has given
the work of guiding to Christ those who have wandered from the
narrow way. He is to be wise and earnest in his efforts. At the
end of each year he should be able to look back and see souls
saved as the result of his labors. Some he is to save with fear,
"pulling them out of the fire;
hating even the garment spotted by the flesh," "holding
fast the faithful word as he hath been taught." Jude 23;
Titus 1:9. Paul's charge to Timothy comes to the ministers of
today: "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord
Jesus Christ; . . . Preach the word; be instant in season, out
of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and
doctrine." 2 Timothy 4:1, 2.
But it is not only upon those who preach
the word that God has placed the responsibility of seeking to
save sinners. He has given this work to all. Our hearts are to
be so filled with the love of Christ that our words of thanksgiving
shall warm other hearts. This is service that all can perform,
and the Lord accepts it as offered to Himself. He makes it efficacious,
imparting to the earnest worker the grace that reconciles man
to God.
May the Lord help His people to realize
that there is earnest work to be done. May He help them to remember
that in the home, in the church, and in the world they are to
work the works of Christ. They are not left to labor alone. The
angels are their helpers. And Christ is their helper. Then let
them labor faithfully and untiringly. In due season they will
reap if they faint not.
The Christian pilgrim does not yield to
his desire to rest. He moves steadily forward, saying: "The
night is far spent, the day is at hand." This is his motto:
"Not as though I had already attained, either were already
perfect: but I follow after. . . . I count not myself to have
apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things
which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which
are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14.