Editorial Keynotes

The great purpose of the gospel min-I istry is to " make disciples." This is the one thought expressed by the Saviour in the great commission to His disciples, when He said, " Go ye there­fore, and make disciples of all the na­tions." Matt. 28:19, A. R. V. To " make disciples " as here directed means to produce followers of Christ, saints of God. And this miraculous transformation in the lives of men and women of all nations, representing all kinds of conditions and environment, is to be wrought by the Holy Spirit work­ing through the chosen human instru­ment. The disciples thus made, the men and women thus transformed by the grace of God through the soul-winning service of the minister, are said to be the fruit of his labor.

At Jacob's well, in Samaria, Jesus made a " disciple " of the woman who came to draw water for temporal needs, but found the Source of that living water which satisfies the thirsting soul. This woman's testimony regarding Je­sus caused a great stir in the city of Sychar. In connection with this ex­perience, Jesus said to His disciples: " Look on the fields, that they are white already unto harvest. He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal." John 4 : 35, 36. Thus He set before them as the ob­jective in service the gathering of fruit unto eternal life.

The apostle Paul, writing to the " saints " in Rome regarding his pro­posed visit to that city, states: " I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift. . . . Oftentimes I purposed to come unto you (and was hindered hitherto), that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles." Rom. 1:11-13. By " fruit " Paul means dis­ciples that he desired and expected to make in the city of the Ca3sars. Fruit­age in soul-winning service was the supreme purpose dominating the life of Paul. At one time, when wearied by excessive toil and the continual opposi­tion and perils that attended his life, it is apparent that Paul reached the place where he was about ready to pre­fer death to life. In writing to the Philippian brethren, he said, " I am in a strait betwixt the two." The one thing that seemed to make life prefer­able was the privilege which might be afforded for gathering more fruit for the kingdom, for he says, " If to live in the flesh,— if this shall bring fruit from my work," then " to abide in the flesh is more needful." Phil. 1: 23, 22, 24.

From these statements it is very evi­dent that fruit bearing, the winning of the lost to Christ, is the supreme pur­pose of the gospel ministry. It is also evident that the one great desire of heart on the part of each and every minister of Christ should be to " make disciples," to gather fruit unto eternal life. If any endeavor or achievement in this world is worthy of enthusiasm amounting to a passion, it is the work to which the gospel minister is called. This passion for souls leads to the ut­most limit in sacrificial endeavor for others. Paul writes: " To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak: I am become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some." 1 Cor. 9:22. " Admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ; whereunto I labor also, striving according to His working, which worketh in me might­ily." Col. 1:28, 29.

A more earnest preacher of the gos­pel than Paul never lived, and none will see more fruit in the kingdom as the result of his life work than will that great man. 0 that we who are called to the ministry of the great threefold message for this last hour of time might be awakened, spirit­ualized, and fired by the same spirit­ual forces which worked so mightily in Pauli The hour, the message, the great need of a world plunging into eternal night,— all these demand that the ministry stand true to their call­ing, " having for our chief aim the winning of souls to Christ."—" Testi­monies," Vol. VI, p. 427. " The work of the minister should be pursued with an earnestness, energy, and zeal as much greater than that put forth in business transactions as the labor is more sacred and the result more mo­mentous."—Id., Vol. IV, p. 442.

The Lord Expects Fruit

God is looking for the fruit which should attend the labors of those whom He has called to " go . . . and make disciples." The vital part of this com­mand is not the going, but the purpose of going — the making of disciples. " I sent you to reap." " He that reapeth . . . gathereth fruit unto life eternal." " They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." Thus the Lord calls men to the gospel ministry, and makes it plain and imperative that fruit shall be the result. God expects this. And the fruit borne, the sheaves gathered, is to be the evidence of the laborer's divine call to the ministry. When Paul's claim to his divine call was challenged, he pointed to the fruitage of his labors as proof that his claim was true, for he wrote, " Need we, as do some, epis­tles [letters or credentials] of com­mendation? . . . Ye are our epistle, . . . ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God." 2 Cor. 3:1-3. It is still incumbent upon everyone who has the temerity to claim that he is called to the gospel ministry to present fruit as proof of his claim.

" To the minister of the gospel God has given the work of guiding to Christ those who have wandered from the narrow way. He is to be wise and earnest in his efforts. At the end of each year he should be able to look back and see souls saved as a result of his labors."—" Testimonies," Vol. VIII, page 17.

" God is the great Husbandman. He will make everything in the lives of those who are laborers together with Christ subservient to His great purpose of growth in fruit-bearing. It is His plan, by conforming His servants day by day to the image of Christ, by mak­ing them partakers of the divine na­ture, to cause them to bear fruit abun­dantly.... He would have them show results far higher, holier, and more definite than in our day have yet been revealed."— Id., p. 186.

A. G. Daniells.