On God's errand.
Our thought is naturally divided into—
I. THE DIVINE DEMAND. "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"
1. There are some demands God makes of us all. He requires that we should hearken when he speaks; that we should be especially attentive to his Son (Matthew 17:5); that we should accept Jesus Christ as our Lord, Savior, Friend, Exemplar; that we should honor him before the world.
2. There are other demands he makes of most of his children. That they should actively engage in the work of extending his kingdom; that they should suffer some kind of persecution for his sake.
3. There remain some demands he only makes of a few. Work requiring specially hard toil, or particular preparation in study, or unusual tact and versatility, or exceptional powers of mind or body. Then he says, "Whom (of all my servants) shall I send; and who will go?"
II. THE INDIVIDUAL RESPONSE. "Here am I send me." In order to say this wisely and rightly, there must be:
1. Thorough devotedness; half-heartedness will never succeed on such errands as these.
2. Special qualification, by native faculty or favorable antecedents.
3. Freedom from other and more pressing obligations. These conditions being fulfilled, all the highest considerations—the will of Christ, the pitiful necessities of the sons of want and sorrow and shame, the example of the noblest, the recompense of the righteous—combine to say, "Go, and the Lord be with you."—C.