THE GOSPEL AND THE NATIONS
‘And the gospel must first be published among all nations.’
Mark 13:10
We may take this verse as describing to us the great work of missions to the heathen, and as binding that work upon us.
I. National responsibility.—We, above all other nations, are bound by the strongest reasons and under the severest penalty to do this work of missions, because we are the great colonising race. To us English people has been given, by Divine Providence, more than to other nations, the mission to replenish the earth and subdue it. Look over the map of the world, and you will see that the English language and the English race is more and more taking the earth to itself. It is a well-known saying that upon the dominions of our King the sun never sets; that the drumbeat of the British soldier follows the sun from his rising to his setting, till it rounds the world; and it is true. The burden of dominion has been laid upon the shoulders of the English people. Why is that so? Not that we may boast of our widespread empire. It has been given to us that we may bring to the races the Gospel.
II. Individual responsibility.—This call which belongs to our England is addressed to us and falls upon us, because we are part and parcel of that great conquering and colonising race which holds more of these dark places of heathendom than all other nations of the earth put together. It belongs to us, and we shall have to account for it. For consider how this responsibility shapes itself.
( a) There is, first, the responsibility of personal service. To some the secret call of God the Holy Ghost says; ‘Go; go thy own self and preach Me among the heathen.’ And I would ask especially those who are younger among you, those whose lives are not as yet set in bonds of family hard to separate, those whose spheres of labour are not yet fixed and definite—are there not, I would ask, some among you who are so qualified and willing to say, like the prophet of old, ‘ Here am I, send me!’ That is the best way of service, the serving in person.
( b) To the larger number of Christian people the obligation shows itself differently. We cannot be the combatant soldiers of Christ’s army, we must be content to be as those who provide its supplies and guard its camps. In plain words, if we cannot do mission work ourselves, we can provide the funds to support those who can. We have not discharged ourselves of this obligation when we have subscribed our pence or shillings on the rare and infrequent occasion of a missionary meeting or sermon. Some more constant, more earnest, more worthy effort is required of us.
( c) Then comes the praying for the heathen, and for the work of missions. Intercessory prayer is the lever by which man can, so to speak, move mountains. We cannot, indeed, see how it acts; we cannot tell what springs of power in the spiritual world it sets in motion, but we follow our Lord and Master’s express command and example in making our requests known unto God.
Illustration
Samuel Johnson’s observations on the duty of evangelisation may be quoted. ‘If obedience to the will of God be necessary to happiness, and knowledge of His will be necessary to obedience, I know not how he that withholds this knowledge, or delays it, can be said to love his neighbour as himself. He that voluntarily continues ignorant is guilty of all the crimes which ignorance produces, as to him that should extinguish the tapers of a lighthouse might justly be imputed the calamities of shipwrecks. Christianity is the highest perfection of humanity: and as no man is good but as he wishes the good of others, no man can be good in the highest degree who wishes not to others the largest measure of the greatest good. To omit for a year, or for a day, the most efficacious method of advancing Christianity, in compliance with any purposes that terminate on this side of the grave, is a crime.’

WORK AND ITS PRIVILEGES
‘To every man his work.’
Mark 13:34
Work is the heritage, the duty, the responsibility of all faithful servants of the Lord Jesus. Life is not a mere holiday with them.
I. The universality of the obligation.—‘To every man his work.’ There is a niche in the Lord’s house for each one, and in that niche just the sort of work we are most fitted to do. And it is to each man his work, his own particular work. It is a great thing to find out what the Lord wants us to do, and then to do it without wishing to change places with others.
II. What is this work? It is very nigh you, at your very doors.
( a) It is the work of your worldly callings.
( b) It is the work to be done in your own hearts, which can only be accomplished by the aid of the Holy Spirit.
( c) It is the work of influencing for holiness those around you.
When the end comes may we be able to say, ‘I have finished the work Thou gavest me to do.’
—Rev. Canon Twells.
Illustration
‘Let me give you twelve reasons why you should work.
Work—for you were made for work, and you nullify your being if you do not work.
Work—for your Saviour wishes it; and it is His dying legacy.
Work—for there is no safeguard of the soul like work.
Work—for nothing draws out graces, and makes them grow, like work.
Work—for there is no comfort in sorrow like doing some work for God.
Work—for all the world reads that book, and there is no evidence of the truth of God, and no honour to religion, like “good works.”
Work—for “your Father worketh hitherto,” and Christ works.
Work—for none go into the vineyard but labourers.
Work—for “He rendereth to every man”—here and for ever—“according to His work;” and as your works are on this earth, so will be your place in the ranges of the blessed.
Work—for it is the happiest thing in this world.
Work—for the day is quickly passing when we can work, and “the shadows of evening are already stretching out,” to foretell “the night, when no man can work.”
Work—for it will be more joy and love to have something to lay at His dear feet when He comes.
I would wish that every one of us would lay down one simple rule: I will ask myself, every night, What have I done to-day for usefulness?’
(SECOND OUTLINE)
THE CALL TO WORK
When we remember that the coming of the Lord shall be the time when our work shall be tested, when we shall receive praise or blame, it should come home to us very strongly that here is a true call—the call to work.
I. The nature of the work.—We shall best understand what it is if we remember the words of the Lord during those wonderful forty days He spent on earth in His resurrection body. ‘Ye shall be witnesses unto Me.’ This is the work for all of us. The great command to spread His Kingdom is binding on every one of us, and those who cannot go forth can work here at home. It is a work to be done in the world—in our own country, in our own diocese, in our own parish, in our own homes. It is a work which must be done by each one in his or her own walk of life—the work of witnessing for Christ.
II. Three great gifts.—We have here three great gifts which the Lord gives to us, and He expects us when He comes back to render an account of what we have done with them. What are they?
( a) The Lord gives us work to do. He gave ‘to every man his work.’ It is a very great thing to be trusted.
( b) He gives His servants ‘authority.’ There is a great deal of meaning there. The word is translated here ‘authority,’ and it is very often translated ‘power.’ It is not only that we have the ‘authority’ of heaven behind us to act as soldiers and servants of the great Captain, but also that His ‘power’ is given to us. The Lord never calls upon us to fulfil any duty or task without enabling us by the ‘power’ of His Holy Spirit to do it.
( c) He gives material to work with.—He ‘delivered unto them his goods’ ( Matthew 25:14). Not the same amount to each one, but to ‘each one according to his several ability.’ The material is our talents—that means ourselves, our powers, our faculties. The Lord has given them, and He expects us to use them for Him.
Rev. W. T. Hollins.
Illustration
‘An important rehearsal for a great oratorio was in progress, Sir Michael Costa conducting. The chorus filled the building, and the thunder of the organ, the rolling of the drums, the clear ringing tones of the cornets, the clash of the cymbals, and the beautiful notes of the stringed instruments combined to make splendid harmony. “ Stop!” All waited in wondering silence for Sir Michael’s reason for his sudden command. “Where is the piccolo?” he asked. In all the grand peals of music Sir Michael Costa missed that tiny note, and the whole was to him imperfect. The incident has a great lesson for us. In the mighty chorus of the service and adoration of God’s people, the Lord Jesus will miss us if we are silent and idle.
(THIRD OUTLINE)
THE LAW OF THE HOUSE
‘To every man his work’—this is the law of the house. No idling can be suffered in Christ’s household. It is a rule without an exception—‘To every man.’
I. The work we have to do.—This command, so universal in its range, is nevertheless particular and individual in its application. ‘To every man his work.’ We are not all called to do the same work.
( a) There is work to be done in the foreign field.
( b) There is work to be done at home.
( c) There is work to be done in our own hearts.
II. Why is work necessary?
( a) Work is necessary for health. ‘Work is life.’
( b) Because idleness leads to every other evil.
( c) Because of man’s natural tendency to sloth and self-indulgence.
( d) Because the Lord Himself is a worker.
III. The spirit in which the work should be done.—If we would serve Christ aright, we must take heed to our spirit. Our work should be done—
( a) Promptly. ‘Go work to-day,’ said the father to his son in the parable, ‘in my vineyard.’
( b) Filially. ‘ Son, go work to-day in my vineyard.’ Beware of inverting the Divine order. If we would be servants, we must first be sons.
( c) Prayerfully. Let none think that Christ’s work can be accomplished by human energy. Those who do so are doomed to disappointment.
—Rev. E. W. Moore.
Illustration
‘The distinguished foreigner who was asked if he had noticed any one characteristic equally marked in all the nations he had visited, was not far wrong when he answered, “I think that all men love lazy.” We live in a day when there are “gods many and lords many,” but certainly the god of ease is among the most popular of modern deities. There is not one of us probably that has not been tempted to worship at his shrine. The forms of sloth are various, the slothful spirit itself remains the same. Physical, mental, spiritual sloth—all must be reckoned with if we are to be faithful to our trust.’

WATCHING
“What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.’
Mark 13:37
What is the sort of life to which Christ here calls us?
I. A wakeful life.—There may be sleeping souls in wakeful bodies. Sleep is unconsciousness. Many live long hours unconscious of God, the soul, and eternity. Sleep is inactivity. How many are alert and active in the exercise of their permitted and commanded communication with God Himself? The wakeful life is
( a) A sober life, Watch, and be sober.
( b) A prayerful life, Watch and pray.
( c) A life of companionship with Christ, Watch with Me.
II. That great word ‘all.’— All the disciples needed it that dreadful night. The life of the Acts of the Apostles is a life of perpetual, of unsleeping watching. Difficult to the young; the busy; to the intellectual; to the sorrowful.
( a) Let us have special moments of spiritual watchfulness.
( b) Let us knit them together by lifting up the heart between time in briefer callings in of grace.