The Inter-American Division
OUR ORDERS
By ARTHUR H. ROTH
Christian soldier, what are your orders?
Do you know what your Captain has commanded
you to do? A good soldier is one who knows his
orders and carries them out. Are you a good
soldier of the Lord Jesus? What are your orders?
Here they are: “Go.” Where? “Into all the world.”
Do what? “Preach the Gospel.” (Mark 16:15).
At the heart of God's programme for the
church lies that important word “GO”. As long as
God has a work on earth for the church to do,
never has there been nor ever will there be a time
when that command cannot be obeyed. No
earthly situation or condition can alter that com-
mand. Along with the command is issued Holy
Power to execute it. When the church and the
individual in the church obeys and yields to the
power of the Holy Spirit nothing is able to pre-
vent the church from accomplishing its task.
Notice the objective of the command. “Into
all the world.” That is a command to the whole
church. The whole church is commanded to go
into all the world. But the command means more.
Each one of us is responsible for the work of the
church. Each one of us has a personal world to
which to go. We cannot send anyone to occupy
our place. The Captain commanded me; He com-
manded you: “Go . . . into all the world.” If
you or I fail in carrying out the command in our
personal world, among our friends, among our
VOL, XXXVI
JUNE,
neighbours, among those with whom we come in
contact, we have not carried out God’s orders.
Our orders to “GO . . . into all the world”
were issued so that we might “preach the gospel”.
That means we are to witness for the Master. We
are to tell the Good News of salvation in Jesus.
Witnessing is the most important business the
church has to do in the world and before the
world. Our orders are most specific. Our witness-
ing is to be “to every creature”. The Master said:
“Ye are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:48).
We are to set before men and women all the
things to which the Scriptures testify.
We are to bear witness to the Master's aton-
ing death and His triumphant resurrection.
We are to tell everywhere the great News of
the remission of sins to all those who repent and
believe.
We are not only to tell about Jesus but we
are to show Him forth as the Gospel.
Our Lord and Captain summarized our duty
in one sentence before He ascended into heaven:
“Ye shall be witnesses unto Me” (Actsl:8). Our
Message is Christ “the hope of glory.”
Christian soldier, are you carrying out your
orders? Are you witnessing before men? Are you
winning souls?
1959 Ne. 6