Athens, the cradle and seat of learning, or in Rome, the centre and mistress of the world. The last sentence that we shall consider at this time is this, "Making it my aim so to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build upon another man's foundations; but, as it is written, They shall see to whom no tidings of Him came, and they who have not heard shall understand.' Such was Paul's ambition. Evermore he was seeking to invade new territory, and to set up his banner there in the name of the Lord. Jesus Christ tasted death for every man ; He gave Himself a ransom for all. The gospel of Christ is therefore for all men everywhere. It must run to and fro and fill the whole earth. The Romans would have been willing to give Christ a place in the Pantheon. They were hospitable to every faith. The Hindus would be willing to accept Jesus as a new manifestation of Buddha. But the gospel is not one of many faiths. It makes its way by conquest and not by compromise. Jesus Christ is Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all. He is King of kings, and Lord of lords. On His head are many diadems. Christianity is a universal faith; it is not to be confined to any tribe or nation. This thought is set forth in the great commission. "Ye shall be My witnesses, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." The apostles began preaching in Jerusalem. In a little time Samaria was reached. Soon Antioch and Cyprus and Cyrene were evangelized. could speak of the gospel as bearing fruit in all the world. Men and women went out in all directions and told the good news. Paul In after ages we see the same aggressive spirit. It took a thousand years to convert Europe. The good work went on all the while. There were some periods in which more work was done than in others, but the work never ceased. From Pentecost till the present hour the effort to carry the gospel to every kindred and tongue and tribe and people has been con tinuous. There has been no peace and no truce with the powers of darkness. This world belongs by right to our Lord, and He shall have it. Those who have His spirit cannot rest while there is one nation or one soul unevangelized. It is the spirit of Christ that has generated all the missionary activity of the ages. The soul that is Christ's must help Him seek and save the lost. Paul said, "I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me." That was the secret of his missionary enthusiasm and service. Christ used Paul's heart and brain and hands and feet and tongue. That was the reason his spirit found no rest. Christ was in him, and Christ wanted all nations to hear the truth. So, if Christ is in us, we will be missionary. If Christ is in any church, molding its thought and shaping its conduct, that church cannot but be missionary. If we could measure the missionary spirit in any church at any given time, we could tell how much of spiritual life and power the church had at that time. A church that is cold or lukewarm will not be missionary; there is no reason why it should be. But a church that reproduces the life of Christ must be missionary. Christianity must be aggressive and world-embracing or it will perish. It is an old maxim in military matters, that an army that remains in its trenches is beaten in advance. Churches have tried that, and have died of heart failure. If a church is self-contained, like the Dead Sea, which always receives and gives forth nothing, it degenerates into a social club, and ceases to be a church of Christ in any true sense. Paul's attitude towards missions should be ours. The evangelization of the world should be our first concern; should be the dominant purpose in our lives. It should colour all our thoughts, and regulate all our expenditures, and determine how we shall use our lives. We should recognize our indebtedness to all who are without a knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ. We are not to consume all we have upon ourselves and to think solely of our own salvation. A man wrote to the mission rooms and said, "We are not fools; we know We how to keep our money." Our Lord called a man a fool who did that very thing. He said, "Soul, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." Some contract debts to gratify the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, and use these debts as an excuse for not doing anything to evangelize the world. They say, "We must be just before we can be generous." In contracting these debts they overlooked the prior claims of God and of humanity. As honest men we are bound to pay what we owe. Sometimes a bank clerk uses for himself money belonging to the bank. With our Anglo-Saxon notions of honesty we know how to designate such conduct. The bank clerk who uses money of the bank for himself is doing no worse than the Christian man who uses the Lord's money to gratify his appetite and taste while his just debts remain unpaid. If our mental attitude towards this cause is the same as Paul's we will be ready to go in person or by our prayers and means to make Christ known to those who know Him not. We will not be disposed to make any excuse. will not say it costs a dollar to send a dollar to the field, and therefore we will give nothing. We will not say there are no results to justify this expenditure, and therefore we will withhold our money. We will do all in our power that the eternal purpose of our God may be accomplished. If we have the spirit of Paul in us we will not be ashamed of the gospel. It can change any life and any nation. It can lift the poor from the dust, and the needy from the dunghill, and set them among the princes of the people. What it has done for the great English-speaking people, it can do for all peoples. It is not one of the ethnic faiths and on a par with them. Christ is not to be classed with Moses and Zoroaster and Buddha and Confucius and Laotsze and Socrates and Mohammed. He is the holiest among the mighty, and the mightiest among the holy. He is the only begotten Son of the Father. As we review the progress and magnificent triumphs of the gospel we will glory in it. Finally, as the followers of Christ and filled with His spirit we will go out into the regions beyond and win the people there to the belief and obedience of the truth as it is in Jesus. We will be content with nothing less than world-wide conquest. If we should think of our own delight simply, if we should eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send no portions to those for whom nothing has been prepared, we shall fail in the attempt, and our very blessings will be cursed. If we feel about this work as Paul did, happy are we, for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon us. XII THE NEW TESTAMENT MODEL CHURCH I THESS. I: I-10 HERE is one church that is spoken of in the New T of this chapter the apostle says, "Ye became an ensample to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia." The Greek word translated "ensample" is sometimes translated pattern or model. When Moses was about to build the tent of meeting, he was told to make all things according to the pattern or model showed him in the mount. Writing to the church in Thessalonica, Paul says, "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of glorying? Are not even ye, before our Lord Jesus at His coming? For ye are our glory and our joy." Again he says, "We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labour of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father." And once more, "Being affectionately desirous of you, we were well pleased to impart to you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were become very dear unto us." There must have been something very unusual about this church to call forth such encomiums from this divinelyinspired man. We know he was not indulging in flattery; he says he was not. He was speaking words of truth and soberness. As we study what is written about this church we are impressed I. With the thought that it was made up of people who had received the truth as it is in Jesus. Paul says, "And for this |