Missionary

“ Our missionary work is the pure and inevitable result of a belief in these words of my text. Can a man believe that Christ has other sheep for whom He died because He must bring them in, whom He will bring in because He died, and not work according to his power in the line of the divine purposes? The missionary spirit is but the Christian spirit working in one particular direction. Missionary societies are but one of the authentic outcomes of Christian principles, as natural as holiness of life, or the act of prayer. ”

“ But the sun which ushered in the present century dawned upon a missionary age and a missionary church. The tide of time has floated man down to a region of light, and the high and holy obligations which rest upon the ransomed of God are being recognized. ”

“ Would you not, under these circumstances, desire that a messenger should come to you? ‘As ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.’ I should rejoice to address the assembly at large, but my physicians have forbidden me, and I must commit this duty to others who are to follow. But allow me to say, that I regard the office of the missionary as a most glorious occupation, because the faithful missionary is engaged in a work which is like that of the Lord Jesus Christ; and a missionary who is unfaithful sinks the lowest of his species in guilt and ignominy. ”

“ May my days be spent with renewed ardour and watchfulness in my Christian profession; never yielding to supineness and discouragements in my Ministerial labours, and toils in the wilderness. Of all men, the Missionary most needs strong faith, with a simple reliance upon the providence and promises of God in the trials that await him. ”

“ There is something so sublime, so noble in the act that elevates the missionary above the common order of human beings that we are not surprised that they make the sacrifice, and we silently wish that we, too, had been called to do missionary work. ”

“ The missionary should, as far as possible, present in his own character all Christian graces. He will be looked upon as a product of the faith he represents, and will exercise more influence by his life than by his words. He must not be impatient, quarrelsome, or wilful, and, above all, he must not be proud. ”

“ The few hundred missionaries preach to a few hundred thousand souls. The millions and hundreds of millions of heathen, are as destitute of preaching as though a missionary had never sailed, as destitute of the Scriptures as though a Bible were never printed, and as far from salvation, I was about to say, as though Jesus Christ had never died. Men speak of operating upon the world. ”

“ You hear of overflowing schools, of many forms of Christian work, of the numbers added to our churches from ranks in day and Sunday-schools, but the wrestling prayers of earnest women, the watchful admonitions, the unremitting toil which has entered into what we call success, who shall record? Over two hundred such missionaries the American Missionary Association has upon its rolls, and it is for these, and that we may add to the number, that we ask your united support. ”

“ The Spirit of Jesus Christ is the spirit of missions. Our Lord Jesus Christ was Himself the first missionary. His promise and advent composed the first missionary movement. The missionary spirit is not simply a phase of the Gospel, not a mere feature of the plan of salvation, but is its very spirit and life. The missionary movement is the Church of Jesus Christ marching in militant array, with the design of possessing the whole world of mankind for Christ. Whoever is touched by the Spirit of God is fired by the missionary spirit. ”

“ It is a matter of great satisfaction to me to know that my talk in general has been well received, and that many a heart has been made glad to know that their labour of love in the cause of Missions to the heathen has not been in vain. A fine Missionary spirit prevails in every part of this kingdom, and in this feeling they pray for the conversion of the world, and send Missionaries to all parts of the globe. ”

“ Like the Prophets and the Doctors I would fain enlighten souls. Fain would I travel the earth, O my Well-Beloved, to preach Thy Name and to set up Thy glorious Cross in Pagan lands. But one mission only would not suffice for me; would that I could at one and the same time proclaim the Gospel all the world over, even to the remotest of its islands. I would desire to be a Missionary not only for a few years, but to have been one from the creation of the world, and so to continue to the end of time.
HIST. D’UNE AME, CH. XI
I long to accomplish the most heroic deeds. ”

“ Missionary work, however, in the usual sense of the word, is only one manifestation of that spirit; for the same spirit which fills the heart of the missionary with daring abroad, gives courage also to the preacher at home, bearing witness to the truth that is within him. ”

“ A wise missionary will take care to have always about him a number of young disciples, whom he is training or trying to train, and into whom he is endeavouring to infuse as much as he can of himself, and the Christian training of centuries past which he embodies,—his knowledge, methods, thoughts and aspirations, together with his spirit and example. ”

“ Now, where in the Bible do you find, that a spirit of self-denial and of consecration is enjoined peculiarly upon missionaries more than upon others? Where do you find it intimated, that a missionary spirit is a thing superadded to Christian character? An entire consecration of our children to Christ is not a test of missionary spirit, but a test of discipleship. ”

“ Therefore, in selecting missionaries, choose such as have sociability, who have friendship and not enmity towards men; and if you have not any such in your ward, train and qualify some young men for this work. Some men can never make good missionaries, and you should not select such. In the very first place, a missionary should have in himself the testimony of the Spirit of God—the witness of the Holy Ghost. ”

“ The Commission under which a society like this does its work. The warrant for a missionary society, as for all missionary effort, is found in the words of our Saviour to his disciples, just before he went up on high: “All power is given unto me in heaven and on 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, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” ”

“ The missionary fire is beginning to burn in their hearts. When they go forth, bearing the sacred [406] symbol of our Lord’s love to men, every Christian man and woman in our land should help them. That movement—and it is coming—will, at no distant day give your colonization and missionary societies all they can do. ”

“ And we should not wait to be called to the Old Country or elsewhere, or to be set apart as Home Missionaries, or to be Bishops or Presidents of Stakes, High Counselors, etc. For I say unto you that every man who has received any portion of the Priesthood is a missionary; and the salvation of the world, to a certain extent, rests upon his shoulders. ”

“ The missionary, simply by going and putting in an appearance, or by giving a little simple advice, or by speaking a few words of encouragement, or by devising a few simple methods, or making a few simple arrangements, can often keep the Church out of [Pg 123] moral danger, infuse new hope and courage to the members and preachers, and, under God, put fresh life and vigour into the whole concern. As iron sharpeneth iron, so doth a man the face of his friend; and this is true in an especial degree of a missionary and his preachers and converts.' ”

“ Even under the best of surroundings, physically, the missionary has enough to contend with. Circumstances over which he has no control, difficulties which far outweigh any already mentioned, meet him on every hand. ”

“ It is begun with a missionary purpose and is carried on in the name of Christ to disciple the people, that they may know Him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. All of our teachers are sent to be missionaries. Many are returning now to their fields of service with which they are well acquainted, and some are going for the first time. ”

“ When the missionary can look upon such a native church with the feeling that it will be faithful to its Lord and do His work; when he can sit in its pews and hear soul-nourishing gospel sermons from his {233} own pupils, now grown strong in the Lord—then indeed his cup of joy is full. ”

“ The missionary, in the exercise of a wise discretion as to time, place, manner and amount of instruction, is decidedly to discountenance indulgence in known sin and the neglect of known duty, and so to instruct his hearers that they may understand all Christian duty. ”

“ Medical missionaries, thank God, do evangelistic work, and so do educational missionaries, and one day we shall learn that the evangelistic missionary, technically so called, is doing a most important educational work, and often truly medical, healing work. The division is a technical one and missionary-hearted men begin to resent it ”

“ The especial difficulty of the missionary is to secure the proper words to convey spiritual conceptions not generally met with in their comprehension; such as, faith, holy, save, cross, heaven, and even in the word for God there is often a difference of opinion among missionaries as to the word to be used. ”

“ But it was especially of my visits through the churches in connection with our foreign missionary work that I was thinking when I said that I had so often recognized my horse that had to be wound up, in all the different stages of his training.
Thank God, I found hosts of noble-hearted men and women all through the Church that needed no winding up; whose conversion and consecration had extended down to their pockets; who were always at the forefront in every good work ”

“ The satisfaction of having performed a most important duty in the service of God gives joy to the heart, no matter how little encouragement one may receive from the people in his labor of tracting from door to door. But often through diligent and prayerful searching a missionary finds those who are willing to listen to his message and testimony, and his visits result in the conversion of precious souls to the great truths that lead to eternal salvation. ”

“ The Relationship Which the Missionary Sustains to the Missionary Society and the Churches Which Support Him. The relationship into which a man, who becomes a missionary, enters with the missionary society and the churches is a very precious one, and should be fully realized. ”

“ The foreign missionary is sent by the Holy Spirit ‘to prepare the way of the Lord,’ but the sooner he can train and trust the native-born men and women whom God shall call to be heralds and witnesses of the truth, the better. ”

“ There is indeed a way of judging the zeal of native Christians for the propagation of the Gospel very popular among missionaries, the way of tabulating and comparing the amount which they subscribe for missionary work. ”

“ The great and terrible God, before whom angels veil their faces, had an Only Son, and He was sent to the habitable parts of the earth as a missionary physician. It is something to be a follower, however feeble, in the wake of the Great Teacher and only Model Missionary that ever appeared among men; and now that He is Head over all things, King of kings and Lord of lords, what commission is equal to that which the missionary holds from Him? May we venture to invite young men of education, when laying down the plan of their lives, to take a glance at that of missionary? ”

“ We rejoice that "the most prolific missionary field ever opened to any Christian people— right here at our doors," is gaining upon the interest and benevolence of the churches year by year. Never were the friends of the cause mote responsive; never was the work more hopeful. The work enlarges, and the people's faith enlarges. ”

“ In these countries, where religious expressions are in every one’s mouth, a missionary has most valuable employment, as he is able to bring their minds back to their own expressions, to their own import and power, as we are desired to do to those who heartlessly use that beautiful form of dedication in the communion service of the Church of England, “We here present unto thee our bodies, souls, and spirits to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice unto thee.” ”

“ The missionary is sent forth as a messenger of the Churches, after undergoing the scrutiny and securing the approbation of a host of Christian ministers, who, by their own talent and worth, have risen to the pastorate over the most intelligent and influential churches in the land, and who, moreover, can have no motive to influence their selection but the desire to secure the most efficient instrumentality for the missionary work. ”

“ The brooding Spirit of God is especially near the Christian worker in foreign lands, and imparts to him much joy and peace.
Another of the missionary's joys is to see the gospel gradually taking hold of the hearts of the people and renewing and transforming them. It {232} is passing pleasant to tell the gospel story, so full of hope and joy, to these people whose religious ideas and aspirations are only dark and gloomy. ”

“ The best plan seems to be to put each man into that category in which he spends most of his time, and in cases of doubt to use fractions, e.g. a doctor may be as keen an evangelist and may preach and strive to convert his patients as eagerly as his colleague who is called an evangelistic missionary. ”

“ Missionary periodical files abound in references to the war's inroads upon missionary enterprises, and to the important mediating work of missions. A great volume of testimony would show that while missionaries still regard the upbuilding of the mind and the saving of souls as fundamentally desirable, the enterprise affects every phase of the personal and community life of the peoples to which it ministers. ”