"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."
(Rom. 10:14-15)

The Holy Scriptures declare that faith is the gift of God. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8). The capacity for faith is created by the operations of the Holy Ghost; and the Apostle Paul informs us that the means used for the exercise of faith, which is salvation, is the Word of God. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Rom. 10:17). Thus we discover that our faculties are exercised in the great work of redemption, and in the exercise of our faculties there is no consciousness of an external force: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13). Thus it is a response from within to the evidence produced, that is, the conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and the provision that God hath made for redemption. "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh. God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Rom. 8:3-4). The renewing of the mind and the enlightening of the understanding to recognise, acknowledge, and embrace the truth, is the work of the Holy Spirit; as our Lord hath said: "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13).

It is with your ears that you hear, it is with your mind that you receive the truth, and it is your heart that responds to the grace of God. God uses also natural means for the spreading of the Gospel, although He applies it by the Holy Spirit: His Word shall not return to Him void; as the prophet Isaiah records: "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Is. 55:12). Nevertheless God has appointed means for the proclamation of that Word, and the means He has determined is by preaching. "How 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?"

Whatever man may think of God's methods, the Apostle declares: "For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believed" (1 Cor. 1:21). Therefore we see that the divinely appointed means for the salvation of men and women are the preaching of the Gospel, and the application of the Gospel by the Holy Spirit. Thus, when we turn our minds to the heathen world, we know on the authority of the inspired Word that without the proclamation of the Gospel by the preacher the heathen world is lost. "How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?"

In the second place, the Apostle asks the question: "And how shall they preach except they be sent?" Throughout the ages no one was sent from Israel to the heathen nations to declare the coming of the Messiah. The hope of Israel was bound within her own borders; none but the sons of Jacob were permitted within the Holy Place of the temple. The prophets told of a day when the Gentile world would be included, and made partakers of the faith of Abraham, but that day was not yet; even our Lord Jesus Christ forbade His disciples to preach the kingdom of God among the Gentiles, saying: "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not" (Matt. 10:5). The time appointed for the proclamation of the Gospel to the Gentiles was set, just fifty days after the resurrection of Christ; then, to use the words of the Apostle: "For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us" (Eph. 2: 14).

Ten days previous to the opening of the Gospel to the Gentile world, the Lord Jesus Christ gave this commandment: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising 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." But such a wide command was not without direction, as the last clause of Christ's words indicates. "Lo, I am with you alway," that is, to guide and direct them.

The first real missionary enterprise arose in the church at Antioch, when the Holy Spirit called upon the church to set aside Barnabas and Saul. They were called to a specific task; as saith the Spirit, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them" (Acts 13:2). "So they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost departed unto Seleucia." When salvation came to the house of Cornelius, it was not without the preaching of the Gospel. Although an angel from heaven came to the house of Cornelius, the angel did not preach the Gospel to him, but told him to send for Peter. "And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter .... he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do" (Acts 10:5-6), and in verse 20 it is recorded that the Holy Spirit instructed Peter to go to the house of Cornelius. The apostle Paul said that he had purposed to go to Rome, but was "let hitherto" - that was a divine prevention; the same applies when he was forbidden by the Spirit to preach the Gospel in Asia and Bithynia. The success of missionary enterprise depends wholly upon the missionary being sent by God.

The command of our Lord Jesus Christ to go into all the world and preach the Gospel is given to His disciples as representing the Church as a whole; for it is very doubtful if any one of those present, when the command was given, ever entered Europe. Thus the field of labour so far as the Church is concerned is the world, "all nations," but that does not apply to the local church. The local church is directed by the Holy Spirit, by His calling from its ranks those He has chosen for the work, and by His direction guiding them to their sphere of labour. As we have already noticed, this is fully supported by the revelation of Holy Scripture. While God overrules all things for His own glory, He uses means, for He has purposed to do so. This is illustrated by the call of Isaiah the prophet: a voice is heard from the throne of Glory saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us" (Is. 6:8). In verse 7 we are told that Isaiah was prepared: "Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged." Thus the choice is made and the commission is given, "Go tell this people"; Isaiah was to preach the word of God. It was the inward urge of his soul that caused him to say: "Here am I, send me." The same principle applied in the call of the Apostles. Christ said: "You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you." And so with the Apostle Paul, the Lord spoke unto Ananias, saying: "Go thy way; for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel" (Acts 9: 15).

The principle has never been altered; it applies today as it did then. God hath chosen from us, as a church, missionaries, and given evidence of His direction and guidance as to their spheres of service, and therein lies our responsibility and obligation. The whole world is indeed our sphere of missionary interest, but our special privilege and obligation is in that part of the world and among those people to whom God hath sent those called from among us to preach the Gospel.

With such evidence of God's grace, in that He has called us to honoured service, to carry the Gospel to the heathen, there can be no question of failure. We have heard of missionaries who attributed their failure on the field to the lack of interest and prayer life in the home lands; but that is purely an excuse, for it is not true, as it is contrary to the revelation of Truth. The Spirit-called and sent missionary carries with him God's Word; and the Lord God Almighty hath said: "My Word shall NOT return unto Me VOID, but shall ACCOMPLISH that which I PLEASE and PROSPER in the THING whereto I SENT IT." Alas, there are many on the mission fields of the world that were never called or sent of the Holy Spirit. The God-called and sent missionary can never fail. Shall we question the Word of Inspiration? How can a God-sent missionary fail when Christ, the great Head of the Church, and the Prince of the kings of the earth, the Lord of the Eternity of Eternities, has pledged His Word that He will guide and direct them? "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

Finally, there are many sons and daughters of peace, heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven, yet to be made manifest; and the appointed means to that end is the preaching of the Word of God. "For faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." There are many in heathen lands today, in South Africa's reserves, the villages of India, and the mountains of Peru, who can say: "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things." And when our commissioned missionaries return, we respond in the same words, for there is a bond that binds us to the men and women of another race and another colour.

The commission to send out missionaries is given to the church; as we have the Scriptural example of the church at Antioch: "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." The privilege given to the church at Antioch to send out missionaries to the heathen world has been accepted by us, as a church, a chosen instrument in the hands of God that the races of the world shall hear the Gospel from the lips of men, the appointed means of Salvation.

"Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God."