| CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DOCTRINE | May 1996 |
“Teach All Nations”
“Go ye, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy [Spirit].” —Matthew 28:19
TO SHARE WHAT we have with others is the very essence of the Spirit of God and of Christ; and especially is this true relative to the spiritual things with which we have been blessed. This lesson is uniformly taught throughout the divine Revelation. For instance, on being commanded by the authorities not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, Peter and John replied: “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”—Acts 4:18-20
To emphasize this same point, Paul, after quoting from Psalm 116:10: “I believed, and therefore have I spoken”; adds, “We also believe, and therefore speak.” (II Cor. 4:13) And the Master, addressing his disciples after they had been endowed with special powers to heal, said: “Freely ye have received, freely give.”—Matt. 10:8
An interesting example of this principle is seen in Ezekiel 40:4. Fourteen years after the city of Jerusalem was overthrown in 606 B.C. (Ezek. 40:1), the Prophet Ezekiel, who was living in Babylon at the time, received a special revelation from God. He was lifted up and carried in spirit into the land of Israel, and there saw stretching out before him a huge structure, “as the frame of a city [the Temple of God].” (vs. 2) And then the significant statement is made: “Declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.”—vs. 4
Is not this experience of the prophet very similar to the experience of the Lord’s people at the present time? Have we not been brought out of the Babylonian confusion of erroneous doctrines, and in spirit brought into the present inheritance of the saints, typified by the land of Israel? Have we not been lifted up by the power of the Holy Spirit, “risen with Christ,” and then shown, stretching out before us, a huge spiritual structure—the great divine plan of the ages—the most important feature of which is the Temple of God, the Christian church and her work, present and future?—I Cor. 3:16
Having been blessed with this “light of the knowledge of the glory of God” (II Cor. 4:6), we now have the privilege of declaring to others of God’s professed people what we have seen and heard. The love of Christ constrains us to do this. The Apostle Paul, in II Corinthians 9:7-11, says that we should share with others the blessings, temporal or spiritual, we ourselves have received.
Quoting from Psalm 112:9, he says, “As it is written, he hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor; his righteousness remaineth for ever.” Then Paul makes the following forceful and beautiful comment: “He that supplieth seed to the sower and bread for food, shall supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness; ye being enriched in everything unto all liberality, which worketh through us thanksgiving to God.”—II Cor. 9:10,11, RSV
Reverting once more to Ezekiel’s Temple, it is noticeable that Jehovah does not personally explain to the prophet the various details relating to the temple, but he is brought in contact with a man “with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed” (Ezek. 40:3), and he does the explaining, measuring, and showing him the size of the courts, gates, and other features of the temple.
This closely foreshadows the Lord’s method of teaching his people; and specially has this been his method during the closing years of this Gospel Age; a human instrumentality has been used to reveal the great divine plan of the ages, with its times and seasons. (Luke 12:42-44) Blessed are they who have been willing to receive the Lord’s instruction in the way he has been pleased to give it. Having thus been richly blessed, let us seek to sow the good seed of truth in the hearts of others.
Let us remember the work to be done at this time is first a gathering of the children of the kingdom with the sickle of truth (Matt. 13:24,25,30,38), and then a seed-sowing work among the people in preparation for the work of the earthly phase of the kingdom, as the plowshares of trouble prepare the hearts of men to receive the good seed.
The same thing is borne out by the psalmist, who, after telling of the rejoicing which came to Israel after her deliverance from Babylonian captivity, picturing the deliverance of spiritual Israel from captivity to mystic Babylon (Rev. 18:4), says: “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”—Ps. 126:5,6
Before the night comes wherein no man can work, let us use the opportunities for service the Lord places within our reach. Having been ourselves well fed at the Lord’s table, let us make use of every opportunity to carry portions to those who have not yet partaken of the joys of the Lord.—Isa. 25:6; Neh. 8:10
The most momentous event of all time is at the door!—the establishment on earth of Messiah’s kingdom for the blessing of all the families of the earth. Let us comfort the poor, groaning creation with the good news that deliverance is at hand.