We read in Mark 1. that at the commencement of our Lord's ministry, when " all the city was gathered together at the door," He rose " a great while before day," and " went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed." Simon sought to bring Him again to the multitude, saying, when he found Him," All men seek for Thee." But the Lord's reply was, " Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth." Following this we read, in Matt. 9:3535And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. (Matthew 9:35), that Jesus went about all cities and villages, teaching, preaching and healing.
Our Lord's personal mission was to Israel alone; the Church's mission is to all the world; and His to Israel must be the model of ours to the world.
No measure of acceptance in any place kept our Lord long there. His motto was, " Let us go to the next towns." Paul made it a point of honor to follow in the footsteps of his Master (Rom. 15:20,2120Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation: 21But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand. (Romans 15:20‑21)). To the local assembly of God's people, the command is to go to the towns and villages lying next them; and to the Church at large the command is to go to " the regions beyond."
Far and wide comes the Macedonian cry from those sitting in darkness. As it falls here, or there upon the obedient ear, it meets with a response, as it did from the apostle and his fellow-laborers, and in due time those who serve now will be enabled to take up the words of the evangelist, " assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them " (Acts 16:1010And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. (Acts 16:10)).
There will be circumstances in the life of a willing soul which will guide-something very trivial, as man would say; but to us nothing is small which has in it a voice from God.
The field is the world; the harvest has to be gathered in. God calls and waits for responsive hearts. To
some who respond He may say, " Thou didst well that it was in thine heart " (1 Kings 8:1818And the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart. (1 Kings 8:18)); but He may bid them, with a loving word, to tarry here. To others He says, " Go, and I will be with thee." If the thought of unfitness comes up, as it ever will in the hearts of the really sent of God, and the trembling believer says, " Ah, Lord God! I cannot speak: I am a child "; He will answer to His appointed messenger, " Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee " (Jer. 1:6-86Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. 7But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. 8Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 1:6‑8)).
" As Thou hast sent Me into the world, so have I also sent them into the world, "said the Lord Jesus as He was about to return to the Father: and He would have our hearts filled with His compassions as we see the multitudes faint and weary with sin and suffering, like sheep scattered abroad and harassed by the lion and the wolf. He has revealed to us the mystery of the world's misery. It is Satan and sin. And He sends us fully armed for the battle, so that we have not to go at our own charges.
The Lord's word to us is, " Pray ye"; and by prayer He would draw out our sympathy with the work of God and the interests of " His harvest; " and till heart-sympathy, as expressed in believing prayer, is stirred up, there can be no real working for God.
In this let us ponder our Lord's example, as we have it given in Luke 6:12,1312And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 13And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; (Luke 6:12‑13): " And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called unto Him His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also He named apostles," and these He sends forth.
The early Church followed the steps of her Lord, and when in Antioch with fasting and prayer they ministered to the Lord, the Holy Ghost responded to their cry, and said, " Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." Then we read: " And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away " (Acts 13:2,32As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. (Acts 13:2‑3)).
May the Church at large and saints individually be brought to fasting and prayer in this matter, and then, as they are in sympathy with God, He will respond.