Unto The Uttermost Part Of The Earth

Message by Paul Rader during the annual missionary rally, Wednesday evening, May 30, 1917.

We are gathered here tonight representing many mission boards. The Moody Church has no “Missionary Society.” We praise God that all of our societies are missionary; and the men sitting on the platform tonight are from a peculiar kind of missionary societies, not those representing some great foundation, with colossal buildings and expenditures, but representing missions believing in the evangelization of the world, and in pioneering and carrying the Gospel a little further than it has yet been carried.

So we are asking God, through the men and women who will volunteer here, and through the vision that comes this year through the messages, that He may push the Gospel message out a little further than it has ever gone—out to the regions just a little further. May the Holy Ghost wonderfully baptize our eyes and ears to see and hear, and melt our hearts with the compassion of Jesus Christ; for, oh His heart is out yonder.

Some years ago, I heard one of God’s old warriors tell how twenty-five years ago the little prayer groups began pleading with God to open certain fields where the doors were closed against the Gospel message. Then he went on to tell how in our day there are no closed doors and no doors, and even the hinges and the walls are gone, and the people are calling, “come and preach the Gospel to us.”

Oh, these missionaries here tonight will not ask you to pray that the doors may open, but will ask you to respond to the plea of God’s world on its knees begging, literally begging you to come over and help, and to see His finger pointing at you, and to hear His message “UNTO THE UTTERMOST.”

The last words of Jesus Christ on Earth were these, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Then when He had spoken these words, while they were gazing upon Him, His body left the ground, and little by little He rose above them until the cloud had wrapped Him round-about and taken Him from their vision.

The last words from the lips of those we have “loved and lost awhile” are held by us as sacred and precious. In the biographies of those who have walked with the Lord and labored greatly in His harvest-fields the last words are always repeated, and are a source of great blessing to those who read. When one dies who has had great possessions, his last will and testament are of great value. He may have made several other wills, and have written concerning his wishes in many letters, but this last document—this last will and testament is the one received by the court, and this last will as stated, will have to be carried out.

I believe that with these final words of Jesus we have a right to connect the last part of the tenth verse of the nineteenth chapter of the Revelation, which reads, “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” First of all let us ask this question, “About what do the prophets write unless it be the glory that shall be revealed in us who have been redeemed by His precious blood, and the glory that He shall reveal through His chosen people, the Jews, and the blessing that shall come to Earth because of His return?” But before any of this revelation can take place, He must gather out from among the races these people in whom He is to be glorified.

One would naturally think that in His last moments He would speak of His coming, and of His glory, and of His place on the throne of David, and the rod of iron with which He is to rule the world and the transformed globe. One would think He would say in His last words, “I will wipe all tears from their eyes, I will lift the tyrant’s hand, I will stop the course of sin,” and in vivid and glorious utterance portray His coming majesty and might. But no, He stresses one thing, and that is, “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me unto the uttermost.” This one great work of witnessing is the all important work to which He points the finger as He leaves the earth. It is this that must be done before the other can be accomplished. The witness must go out before the glory can be revealed. This, then—His last testimony—can we not say is the very “spirit of prophecy?” The spirit of prophecy is telling what is to be wrought in Christ Jesus, but this must be wrought by those who believe in Christ Jesus before He is able to reveal His glories. His last commission then is to go, to go, to go, in order that He—our Prophet, Priest, and King—may come in judgment, may come in might, may come in glory.

In order that those who are mentioned as beneficiaries in the will may receive their part, the distinct provisions of the will must be carried out. After those provisions have been carried out, the money or property may be turned over to the beneficiaries. Before all the glories which Jesus has purchased can be revealed and delivered there are certain provisions that must be carried out, and He states this one outstanding provision in His last witnessing to us, by saying that the witness must go to the uttermost part of the earth.

It is because the Church does not see this provision that it has failed in its missionary program. It has looked at the glories that should be revealed, has waited long for them, and at last grown weary and has settled down in the earth and spiritualized this great legacy of His coming and glory. How slow we are therefore in bringing back the King and in receiving our legacy! We in some sense have blamed Him for remaining so long away from this sinful and turbulent Earth; the love of many has waxed cold; the fervor and the ardor of many has ceased, and thousands upon thousands have turned to the building of a legacy man-made. The apostate Church of today is building, as one saint of God has said, a “mock millennium,” because it was unwilling to fulfill the conditions that would bring Him back and bring His millennium. Would we see the King in all His glory? Would we see the wind-up of the rule of sin? Would we lift the hand of the oppressor? Would we bring justice on the earth and mercy? Then let us fulfill the provision. Away! Away! Away! Let us speed away to the uttermost parts of the earth with the glorious message of the salvation of Jesus. He died for all men, and His loving heart yearns that they might have the message of His death and resurrection. Just quietly ask God if you have caught the vision of how much is hinging on witnessing to the uttermost parts of the earth.

We hear many talk of the fulfillment of prophecy; we hear many compare Scripture with Scripture, that the outline of the program of His coming might be made clear; but will even a thorough outline of the program speed His program? Isn’t this testimony of Jesus Christ the very spirit of prophecy? Does this last uttered will of His not contain the all important provision of witnessing to the uttermost, and must this provision not be fulfilled?

We are gathered in a great missionary rally, and may we not take as the key-words to this great forward movement in our Church these words, “Unto the uttermost part of the earth?” Let us ask ourselves, “What can we do to bring back the King?” and I am sure the answer will come: Fulfill the provisions, the provisions in His will.

Unto the uttermost part of the earth
Oh, let the great Gospel message go forth.
Send out the light in the darkness and gloom,
Send out the witnesses, then He will come.