The Love of Christ

Chapter 12 THE LOVE OF CHRIST THE SUSTAINING MOTIVE IN THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. AN APPEAL.

'And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and 'preach the Gospel to every creature.' ― Mark 16:15.
'He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me' ― John 14:21.
'For the love of Christ consraineth us.' ― 2 Corinthians 5:14

'The love of Christ,' in the last clause quoted, is Christ's love to us, and it ' constraineth us' to earnest self-consecration. His love proved its fervour in His death ― that death brings life to us ― and a life so originated is to be devoted ' not to ourselves, but to him who died for us, and who rose again.' Such a result springs from our deliberate decision ― 'we thus judge;' for it is but a reasonable thing that they who live by Christ should live to Him. The cross unites them to Him who bled upon it for them, and creates that love which is the passion of the sanctified heart, and comprises in it the sum of Christian ethics.

' Talk they of morals, Thou bleeding Lamb ―
The grand morality is love of Thee!'

It is so in all duty, as the one grand motive is love; we engage in it, for ' the love of Christ constraineth us.' It is especially so in that sphere of duty which we propose to illustrate and enforce. The motive which ought to guide you and prompt you in the prosecution of the missionary enterprise, you will find in the love of Christ. Motive is moving power, and in proportion to its strength and purity will be the amount of result, or the extent of success. If it be feeble ― if it be only a quiet inducement, it will scarcely arouse the spirit to labour; and if it be not the offspring of intelligence and faith, then it is only a mere excitement, which shall live out its brief and fitful fever, and soon die of collapse. Motives of such a nature have had their day and their influence. At the commencement of modern missions there was novelty. All hearts were stirred, and the charm of romance was thrown around the work. It seemed to be the beginning of a new era ― the dawning of the promised jubilee. But this epoch of admiration has passed away, and must be succeeded by the epoch of labour. At first, too, men formed sanguine anticipations, thought of rapid and extensive conquests, dreamed of a sure and speedy millennium, and saw in fancy idols burnt, temples ruined, altars overturned, paganism subverted, Judaism restored, and the reign of Christianity universally established. But these immediate results have not followed in all their fulness, and, therefore, the era of unwarranted expectation must be followed by an era of positive and persevering industry and toil. What we want now is a moving power which shall not soon or easily expend its energies; which shall not faint in the midst of difficulties, but shall ever be fanned into mightier strength by the blasts of opposition. What we want is a motive which combines perseverance with enthusiasm, which grows bolder in the midst of discouragement, and which persists, and still persists, with all the ardor and freshness of a first love, till the end be achieved. It is such a motive in living force and duration, as ruled the spirit of Columbus, when he turned the prow of his barque to the west, and held on cheerily and steadily in the same direction, and fainted not amidst growing murmurs and dissatisfaction, but still steered toward the setting sun under strange skies and amidst unexplored waters, till drift and sea-weed told him that he was nearing land; and then, as his vessel grazed the beach, the mariner leapt out in the fulness of his joy, and took possession of a new world. Thus, let the church, under the firm persuasion that she is doing the will of God, engage in this glorious work; let her gather faith from promise and prophecy; let her, like her own illustrious Head, 'not faint nor be discouraged' till she have set judgment in the earth; let her not be intimidated by obstacles, nor dismayed either by scanty success, the fickleness of heathen converts, the death of missionaries, or the languor and avarice of so many of her own adherents at home; let the one motive fill her, and then, by God's blessing, and in God's good time, she shall achieve the conquest of the globe. And whence shall this motive be brought but from the cross? There is only one source, and that is love to Christ. It is when ' the love of Christ constraineth us,' and we 'thus judge' ourselves to be under solemn obligation to live to Him, that we are furnished with power sufficient to labour without weariness, and with the prospect of success. This is a power which should be in every heart, in all its impetuous majesty. For were it there, then it would induce us to contemplate the spiritual wants of the world in the spirit of Christ. If we loved Him, we should love whatever He loves; and be disposed to form the same views of man and of the world as He does. He loved the world, and died for its salvation; shall not we, who love Him, love the same world, and commiserate its want of a salvation provided in the Saviour's blood? What we now complain of is, that men so often survey the world in all its aspects but that of spiritual want. The world is often under the eye of science, but how seldom under that of compassionate Christianity! We hear much of its population and their manners, of its soils and their capabilities, of its various climates and their peculiarities, its rivers and their navigation, its kingdoms and their policy; yet how seldom does the common traveller, the physical geographer, or the statist dwell upon the evils produced by the want of the gospel! You are told of the brawny Indian of North America ― his noble form and warlike mien, his stoical endurance of suffering, and his hope of a future spirit-land. There is pictured to you the Mohammedan, his fierce hatred of idolatry, his oriental origin, and his fierce conquests, which resemble the dreams of romance in their rapidity and extent. And you are reminded of the Jew, of his cringing temper and love of money, of the cruelties he has undergone, and of the slavery to which, in spite of his gold, he has been subjected. And yet there are too often kept back from your view the wretchedness, cruelty, and degradation of the godless pagan ― the licentiousness and fanaticism of the Moslem ― and the promises made to the ' children of the covenant,' when God shall bring in His ancient people with the fulness of the gentile nations. Let us therefore view the world as the Christ we love views it ― guilty, helpless, and miserable; but with a salvation provided for it and adapted to it ― a salvation secured at the most awful expense, and waiting the period of its presentation to all tribes and tongues. Let the churches feel what the world is in want of; and feel it under the conviction that Christianity alone can meet its necessities. For commerce and civilization are inadequate; they cannot educate man's spiritual nature. You may send through the world the produce of the looms of Glasgow and Manchester, and of the forges of Sheffield and Birmingham, to refine and civilize its myriads; but yet if this iron and cloth be all your boon, you leave them still in their godless and hopeless state. Such an extension of temporal blessings may bind the demon, but it cannot expel him. To every one, therefore, who surveys the spiritual condition of the globe, and feels what its wants are, and how alone they can be met and gratified, there will appear, as to Paul, not one but many imploring him, ' Come over and help us.' And what help shall you carry to them? Shall you teach them to name and number the stars, and say nothing of the heaven that stretches above and beyond them? Shall you show them how to change a hut into a house, without leading them to the knowledge and hope of the ' building of God,' the mansion of eternal bliss? No. Science without religion is an eyeless giant, and without its impulse art might show its genius and power in erecting and adorning temples for false divinities. 'Ye that make mention of the Lord keep not silence, and give 'him no rest, till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.' Let the point of this prayer impress you: Jerusalem, not Athens, the scene of intellectual splendor, nor Rome, the type of martial greatness, nor London, the mart of a world's merchandise; but Jerusalem, the ancient city of God ― ' till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.' So long as there is a child without its school, or a man without his Bible, or a village without its pulpit; so long shall this prayer be presented by all who love the Lord Jesus ― who see the world as He sees it, and love His salvation as He loves it. Nor can you fail to look at the means to be employed. This instrumentality is of Christ's appointment ― the result of His wisdom and love; and it is given in charge to you. Thus regarding it, your hearts must also be set upon it, to work it for its great design. Already have we alluded to it, as 'the glorious gospel,' that meets every want of humanity, and is fitted and offered to men of every colour and clime. It carries with it the choicest blessings. It brings pardon and peace. It quiets the conscience, and begets the hope of glory. It makes man what he should be in temper and action. It clothes present obligation in the most impressive form, for it places all duty in the light of eternity.

It satisfies our cravings, and gives the soul its only portion. It is God's voice as it speaks, and God's arm as it guards us. In it, heaven stoops to earth, to raise up earth to itself. Nor is it cramped with any national peculiarities. What fits it for one man, fits it for every man; what adapts it to Britain, adapts it to Madagascar. The old economy was organized but for one people, and resembled its own Jordan, which, after traversing its narrow territory, lost itself in a sullen lake. But Christianity is the river of water of life, flowing onward with undiminished current; no barrier can withstand its expansive energy, no time nor numbers exhaust its pure and copious streams.

Now, the motive to employ this instrumentality is also supplied. It is not set before you that you may admire it, and simply handle it in curiosity; but you cannot look upon it without being impelled at once to put it to its use, for you look at it as Christ does, and you love it from its connection with Him. O then, by the value of an immortal soul, greater by far than that of the physical universe ― by the love you bear to Him who loved you and gave Himself for you ― by the tears and prayers and agony which secured that salvation yourselves enjoy, we implore you to send the gospel to a perishing world. O seek not to creep up to heaven in selfish solitude; take others with you. Think with what you have been entrusted. So far as means go, the conversion of the world is in your power ― within your reach. Not that any power on earth can convert a soul, or that the ordinances of the church can by themselves change and purify the heart. This has, indeed, been too common an error. It is in fact the very essence of Popery. Join yourself to the church, and the junction will unite you to the Saviour, is the motto of Rome; but the spirit of the Bible is, Christ first, the church next. For union to Christ is essentially union with His church: first to the Lord,' and afterward 'unto us by the will of God.' Every one in Christ is a member of His church; but every member of the church is alas not necessarily in Christ. But while these things are so, it is nevertheless true that means are to be put forth; and he who withholds the means does all in his power to frustrate the result. ' For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? as it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!' The concatenation of means is plain. If there be no mission, there is no preaching; if there is no preaching, then there is no hearing; if no hearing, then no faith; if no faith, then no prayer; and if no prayer, then no salvation. If you refuse the first, you annihilate all that follows. Mere mission does not save, and mere preaching does not save; but saving faith and prayer depend upon mission and preaching. You cannot command faith ― the Spirit of God alone can create it; but you can organize the ordinary means which the Spirit does employ for its origination. So that if you employ not the means which are in your power, you negative the end which is not in your power. How, then, will you justify yourselves in withholding the means at the starting point? But you cannot withhold this instrumentality, if you breathe His Spirit ― the Sent of God; if you look upon a human soul, and see it made in God's image, and feel its immeasurable value, in the ransom-price of Calvary; if you remember the change which has passed over yourselves ― from gloom to light, from misery to peace, from death to life; and reflect that such a change is needed by the heathen as much as by you, that the means of its production are at your disposal. and that you are solemnly commanded by Him you love to labour, and pray, and give, that the Bible may be circulated, the church extended, and the Redeemer Himself rewarded and glorified. In fact, the saved are appointed to make conquests for their Saviour. And they respond to the commission, because they love the Master and love the work. They long to see His glory advanced, and they rejoice to clasp in brotherhood the partakers of the ' common salvation.' They know that there is no blessing for a man like salvation; and that though he has all, yet if he is without it he is poor indeed. And therefore you preach Christ to him. The preaching may not be from your own lips, or from your own example, but it may be from the lips of another sustained by your liberality and prayers. Your connection with this duty cannot be sundered. You may not go in person to the heathen, but you can speak to the irreligious nearer you. You may not cross the seas, but you have a personal interest in the missionary adventurer. For you he leaves home and kindred, and it is only in strict justice that you support him. Do not, therefore, call by the name of benevolence what is a work of purest equity,― that he who labours for you be compensated by you. So that giving is a Christian obligation, lot only ought you to support those who labour for you, but you acknowledge Christ's claim in all you are, in all you have. He is the giver, and demands a proportion of the silver and gold to Himself. To withhold it is sacrilege, and as of yore He still sits ' over against the treasury,' and estimates what is given, not by its actual bulk, but by its proportional value. Will you then be so selfish as to keep back what it is in your power to confer? Having drunk of the river of water of life yourselves, and yet standing on the margin of the sacred stream, let your voice reach to the farthest shores: 'Ho, every one' that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money: come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price.'

Besides, as love to Jesus is the grand motive, think what satisfaction you bring to the Saviour Himself. No one has such an interest in that work as He. As each soul is converted, a thrill of exalted joy passes through His bosom, and to be instrumental in producing this ― 0, what an honour! You may not be able fully to realise it, but be it yours to share in it, so that through you He may 'see of the travail of His soul, and be satisfied.' When a sinner is converted and blessed for ever, gladness also fills the heart of angels. Heaven is moved to ecstasy with the tidings of the success of the missionary enterprise. The redeemed spirit, as it feels its obligations to Christ, will thus become steadfast and immovable in His work. It will identify itself with all His desires, and among them is paramount the conversion of the world. For this He reigns and pleads, for this He dispenses the gifts of His Spirit, for this He has planted His church and brought you by His grace within its pale. As then you set your heart on what He has set His heart, and pray for it, labour for it, and contribute for its advancement, be this your aspiration ―

' Come then, and, added to Thy many crowns,
Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth.
Thou who alone art worthy. It was Thine
By ancient covenant, ere nature's birth;
And Thou hast made it Thine by purchase since,
And overpaid its value with Thy blood.
Thy saints proclaim Thee king; and in their heart
Thy title is engraven with a pen
Dipped in the fountain of eternal love.' And if it be Christ's work, so loved by Him, and so loved by you because it is loved by Him, it must be successful. The assurance based on such a fact must sustain you in it. Shall I turn you to the remarkable prophecies of Scripture? Is not their language precise and full, the imagery bold and varied, and their spirit that of earnest penetration. The earliest promise contained the assurance of victory over the serpent. The covenant made with Abraham imbosomed a blessing to all nations of the earth. Dominion from sea to sea was predicted of the Son of David. The restoration of the Jews was to be to Him a 'light thing,' compared with the conversion of the Gentiles. The mountain of the Lord's house was to be elevated to a conspicuous eminence on the top of the hill, that it might be a sanctuary for the world. Heathen kings are to lay their crowns at the feet of Messiah, and mountains are to sink into plains before His victorious progress.' Ambitions men, from Nimrod down to Bonaparte, have fought and toiled to found a universal monarchy, but they have signally failed. Yet He shall succeed, and the glorious cry shall be heard: The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.' For your exalted Lord has all influences at His supreme and unchallenged disposal. Whatever happens forwards His cause. Discoveries in science, revolutions in kingdoms, wars and persecution, are made to contribute to His success. He sits king on the floods, alike in their stillness and in their raging. The one Head of the Church, and Head at the same time over all things to the church, ― can He be turned from any purpose, or can He fail in any enterprise? "Wiser than the wisest, stronger than the strongest, and better than the best; if He be for us who can be against us? Thus runs the declaration and the command based upon it: 'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth, go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.' The populace of the world has been debased by fables and impostures, but Jesus the prophet has given a complete revelation, before which the fabrics of delusion fall, their oracles are silenced, and the dark and mysterious rites of their temples are exposed and supplanted. Humanity, under the pressure of a guilty conscience, has often resorted to impure and cruel lacerations and sacrifices; but Jesus the Priest has offered up a perfect oblation ― infinite in its merits ― these merits freely dispensed, and their reception bringing peace and hope; so that on that atonement we safely rest all the hopes and hazards of an eternal futurity. And though error has obtained such a hold in the world, and grasps its wide empire with such tenacity, and will not let it go, Jesus the King possesses unlimited sway, and when He revives and unites His church, then, girding His sword upon His thigh, He will go forth conquering and to conquer. Nor is this all theory. It has been often realized. Our present churches are themselves the fruit of missionary enterprise. It was but a small band that met in the upper room at Jerusalem; but they were filled with that holiest of heroism which is based on the love of Christ. Three thousand at Pentecost believed in Him, who a few weeks before had died a felon's death. The sword of persecution was unsheathed ― they fled; but they 'went everywhere preaching the word.' Samaria was greeted with the glad tidings, and they flew through Galilee beyond the limits of the country. The wisdom of Athens bowed to them, and the corruption of Corinth could not resist them. At Antioch the disciples grew so rapidly as to receive a distinctive name from the Divine Teacher; and the iron valor of Rome was conquered by the invisible might of the crucified Nazarene. The temple of Diana was abandoned at Ephesus, and books of magic were burned. Macedonia, famed of old for its phalanx, yielded to the Victor. Christianity came, and saw, and conquered. It surmounted the Alps, and descended into Gaul; scaled the Pyrenees, and gathered converts in Spain; crossed the channel, and founded its churches in the British Isles. Nor is it different in more modern times. The snowy regions of Greenland have been thawed. Among the dwellings of the South Seas a change has come over the population which was once as far beyond control as the surf that beats on their coral reefs. Breaches have been made in the great wall of China, and Brahma is retiring sullenly from the shores of the Ganges. The throne of Mahomet begins to shake; the crescent is waning, ere long to be eclipsed; and the lamps which have burned for ages in the shrine of Mecca, are glimmering with a feeble and dying lustre. In the islands of the West Indies many a sable countenance has been lighted up with joy, and emancipation from human bondage has been felt to be second to a happier and nobler freedom. Yea, among the children of Ham, steeped in superstition and barbarity, the beginning has been made ― a prelude to the coming epoch when Ethiopia's outstretched hands shall be loaded with the blessings she so earnestly craves. May we not also perceive, that in popish countries there is a shaking among the dry bones; the terror that inspires and increases persecution being to us a token of partial and incipient successes. The Anglo-Saxon races in Canada, the States of America, the Cape of Good Hope, New Zealand, and Australia; the English rule in India, and its settlement at Canton, have been planted in these various localities, in providence, not simply for purposes of commerce and colonization, but for a higher and ultimate design ― that as centers of influence they may evangelize the globe. O for mightier prayer and redoubled energy, enlarged liberality and more hearty consecration, that the few laborers may be multiplied, that efforts made may be blessed, that the mites may become shekels, that the church may awake to its mission, and the world be speedily won over to Messiah, the Prince! The world shall be so won: 'I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.' ' O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord.'

' Arabia's desert ranger
To Him shall bow the knee;
The Ethiopian stranger
His glory come to see:
With off 'rings of devotion,
Ships from the Isles shall meet,
To pour the wealth of ocean
In tribute at His feet.

' Kings shall fall down before Him,
And gold and incense bring:
All nations shall adore Him;
His praise all people sing: For He shall have dominion
O'er river, sea, and shore,
Far as the eagle's pinion
Or dove's light wing can soar.' In fine, when any command of Christ is obeyed from love to Him, such obedience brings its own reward. How nobly will missionary prayer, liberality, and effort bless yourselves. They will return sevenfold into your bosom. You will enjoy the gospel in proportion to your efforts to diffuse it. And you will also retain it among you. The early churches, so soon as they ceased to be missionary, died out. The candle was put under a bushel, and it soon expired; and then, as it was of no further use, the candlestick itself was removed out of his place. Thus perished the African church ― the church of Tertullian, the prince of orators ― of Augustine, the first of theologians ― and of Cyprian, the meekest of martyrs. Your activity will give health to your piety, and keep it free from morbid casuistry and pernicious slumber. ' There is that scattereth and yet increaseth.' God is able to make all grace abound toward you. The ocean which, from its generous bosom, sends up the vapour which is condensed into rain, is not thereby diminished in volume; for it receives its waters back again; having lent them for a season to refresh and fertilize the earth.

Thus, wherever you look, all is full of encouragement. The world is in immediate want, but provision has been made for it in a complete and gracious gospel, and a motive of sufficient power has also been furnished. There is room for work, and there is but brief time for you to engage in it. O, then, let the love of Christ constrain you to immediate action, and sustain you under it. The success that has been already reaped is surely an inducement to persevere. Let it not be said in despondency over any of you, ' ye did run well, who did hinder you? ' Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.' Be ever imploring the blessing of the Divine Spirit. Your labour is only as the building of the altar and the preparation of the victim; unless the fire from God descend and consume the offering, the enterprise cannot be crowned with success. In the Acts of the Apostles there is a uniform recognition of the divine hand. Homage is not done to the zeal of Paul or the eloquence of Barnabas, but always to the Spirit of God. In one word, then, begin and carry on under the stimulus of this mighty motive. Clamour not for immediate results, but still persevere in duty. In spite of their unbelief and rejection of Him, it never repented Christ that He died for men, let it never repent you that you have sought above all things their conversion. Be always abounding' in this work. It is Christ's work, O let it be yours. Ever be drawing fresh encouragement from all that happens around you, and ever be ' looking unto Jesus.' While you work yourselves, enlist others.

Let the leaven of your zeal and energy leaven the whole lump. And when that result is reached, as it will be reached, the end is at hand. Then shall the intelligence of Europe be exalted and sanctified, and the spiritual fruits of Asia shall resemble its own tropical productions in profuseness and beauty, and the isles of the South Seas shall lift up the voice together and sing, and Africa shall be washed, and made white in the blood of the Lamb, and the great American continent shall, through all its zones, glow under the free and equal radiance of the Sun of Righteousness, and the globe shall be vocal with one continuous melody to the God who made it, ― to the Saviour who redeemed it. The whole earth shall be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen.' THE END