In accordance with the plans of God announced to Abraham, all spiritual blessings enjoyed by the world have come through Abraham and his descendants. Into an everlasting covenant the Lord entered with him and his seed; from his posterity the inspired prophets, psalmists, and sages of Israel sprang; out of the bosom of the nation the Lord Jesus Christ came forth with the glad tidings of redemption; from the humbler classes of the Jewish people the Apostles, with the exception of Paul, stepped forth to become fishers of men; by the Hebrew race were given all the books of the Bible except those of the Gospel of Luke and The Acts of the Apostles written by Luke the beloved physician; and of their own flesh and blood were the first martyrs, who, refusing to obey the voice of man rather than that of God, walked forward by faith into the very jaws of death and demonstrated to us what true discipleship is. Prior to the days of printing the Jews have with infinite pains copied their Scriptures and preserved them to us in a state of accuracy which is almost incredible. According to reports whenever a mistake is made in the scroll by a scribe, it is rejected. Every word and letter is counted so that the record might be as perfect as human efforts can achieve. In this connection I wish to state a fact which is usually overlooked by Christian writers and on account of which we are greatly indebted to the Jews. Christianity, as we shall learn, was given in the first century to the world by the Hebrew Christian Church but in all regions where the Jewish influence through the intervening centuries has not been, or has been limited, the torch of Christian truth soon became extinct. Obviously, the monotheistic faith of Judaism created an environment conducive to the growth of Christianity.

In view of the facts cited above, one is not surprised at the statements of the Holy Spirit relative to the debt which the Gentiles owe to the Jews. Paul declared that the Gentiles, having been grafted into the Jewish stock are partakers of the fatness of the natural olive tree (Rom. 11:17). In discussing the matter of the Gentiles' contributing to the material needs of the poor Hebrew Christians, the same Apostle affirmed, "For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it to them also to minister unto them in carnal things" (Rom. 15:27). The principle underlying this quotation is applicable to the matter of giving the Gospel to Israel at the present time. Their spiritual debtors we are. From this standpoint alone it becomes necessary that the entire church arise in a mighty effort to give the truth to Israel. To do so is in perfect alignment with the plan of God revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures.

In Genesis 12:3 God stated to Abraham that He would bless all families in him: "And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." A special blessing is here held out to the one who will bless Abraham, and a curse is pronounced upon the one cursing him. This original promise in the light of the immediate context seems to have focused attention upon the patriarch in his relation to the world of his own day; yet there are intimations that it looks into the distant future. The land promise of verse 7, "Unto thy seed will I give this land," confirms this inference. The germinal thought of the original passage is expanded into a definite promise which designates Abraham's' seed as the channel of world blessing. "In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall posses the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 22:17,18). A careful study of verse 17 gives a clear intimation that the word seed is used in a double sense: first with reference to Abraham's literal posterity; secondly with reference to One of His descendants who will be powerful enough to conquer all the enemies of Israel. In the light of the scriptures this position is seen to be the correct one. Hence this passage contains a promise that God will use both the Jewish nation and her Messiah as the channel for blessing the entire world.

The interpretation given in the paragraph above is confirmed by the Spirit-inspired Psalmist who prayed: "God be merciful unto us, and bless us, And cause his face to shine upon us; That thy way may be known upon earth, Thy salvation among all nations" (Ps. 67:1-2). The book of Psalms is Israel's infallible, inspired song book. It was composed for her comfort and ritualistic use. In the past the pious of the nation have uttered the truth of these verses as the deepest yearning of their souls. In the future especially, the godly remnant will express in these same words its heart cries during the time of the Great Tribulation.

According to this passage the pious in Israel will pray for God's mercy upon them and His deliverance from their enemies with one object only in view, namely, that the Lord's way and salvation may be made known upon earth among all nations. When we realize that this hymn was composed by the inspired man of God in order that Israel might know for what to pray and how to pray, it becomes abundantly evident that this petition is also a prophecy of the way God will give His truth to the nations of the world. By these facts we are logically brought to the conclusion that the gospel will never be given to the world except through Israel, the divinely-chosen agent for heralding the truth to all nations.

According to the predictions which we have just studied, we naturally expect the Jew to be set forth in the New Testament as the herald of salvation to all nations. Does it teach this doctrine? At one of the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus to His disciples, He gave the great commission in the following words: "All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (literally, the consummation of the age)." Our Lord tasted death for every one; hence after His resurrection He instructed His disciples to tell this fact to all nations and to baptize all those who accept Him. This work is to be carried on during His absence--even to the consummation of the age. The Jewish people being one of the nations, the gospel is to be given to them throughout the Christian dispensation in the same manner as to the Gentiles.

In this connection we must note the fact that, though the ones to whom this great commission was given were the Jewish Apostles, we learn from other passages that the Gentiles are fellow heirs with Israel in the body of Christ and that they have the same responsibility of giving the truth out to the nations as the Hebrews.

The Jewish disciples took the Lord seriously and went forth in the power of the Spirit of God, giving the gospel to the world in the first generation after the resurrection of their Lord. Proof is seen in a quotation from the tenth chapter of Romans. In order to appreciate the force of the Apostle's statement, we must remember that this letter was written, according to conservative scholars, in the Spring of 58 A.D. According to Luke's statement in Acts 1:8, the gospel was to be given in the following order: first, at Jerusalem; secondly, throughout all Judea; thirdly, in Samaria; and finally, to the ends of the world. The Acts of the Apostles shows that this divine program was carried out to the letter. Of course Luke, as is well known to all Bible students, drops the record of all the apostles except that of Paul after giving an account of the preaching of the gospel to the first Gentile converts.

In Romans 10 he discusses the necessity of the messenger. People can not call upon the Lord in whom they do not believe; neither can they believe in Him of whom they have not heard; and they can not hear without a messenger. In verse 16 the apostle makes the categorical statement that "they did not all hearken to the glad tidings." But this fact was no surprise to him because the Lord had already foretold that the message would not be universally accepted: "Lord, who hath believed our report?" Did the world have a chance to Hearken? Hear Paul in verse 18. "Did they not hear? Yea, verily, Their sound went out into all the earth, And their words unto the ends of the world," In answering his own question. Paul gave his reply in the language of Psalm 19:4. The connection of this verse in the original shows that David was talking about the evidence of God's creative activity and spoke of it in terms of personality. Paul's use of the Psalmist's words shows that he adapts them to his theme of the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth. When this quotation is studied in the light of all the facts, one understands the passage as teaching that the infant church gave the gospel to the world by the year 58 A.D., that is, within 28 years of the death of our Lord the gospel had been preached to the world. Confirmation of this position is found in the Apostle's statements in Colossians 1:6,23. The Colossian letter was written in 63 A. D. In verse 6 Paul in speaking of the gospel said that it was bearing fruit "in all the world." The word here translated world is the same one appearing in John 3:16: "for God so loved the world" It is evident that the world which God loved included all peoples. Hence when Paul says that the gospel was bearing fruit in all the world, he meant by world what John designated by it in chapter 3:16. Further confirmation is found in his statement in Colossians 1:23 where he, in speaking again of the gospel, said that it had "been preached in all creation under heaven."

For the one who is willing to take the Scriptural statements at their face value the testimony given above is sufficient. But for those desiring more light on the subject I may call attention to the fact that the traditions coming to us from the early centuries affirm that the Apostles and ministers of the Word went into various parts of the world preaching the gospel. According to these traditions Christianity was taken to China, India the land of the Scythians, and Africa. Though I am not attaching my faith to the traditions of men, I do feel that, since they do not contradict the Scriptural testimony but rather confirm it, there is truth and historical fact lying behind them.

Additional evidence may also be found in the realm of archaeology, philology and the teachings, practices, and superstitions of various heathen nations. Some students of Philology affirm that they find word fossils embedded in the language of certain peoples which prove that the gospel was given to said nations at a very early date. Others find evidence in the form of beliefs, superstitions, and practices of the heathen world. The conclusion to which these facts lead them is that the gospel was given to the nations in an early age. Since the New Testament declared that it was given to the world in the first generation, it is only fair to conclude, that this extra-scriptural evidence is proof that corroborates the inspired record.

Though the gospel was planted throughout the world during the first generation of the church's existence, a great change occurred in the second generation. According to authentic history Jerusalem fell in 70 A.D. under the powerful blows of Rome and the nation was scattered to the four winds of the earth. The Jews misinterpreted this calamity, thinking that it was evidence of divine displeasure against the nation because she had not exterminated the sect of the Nazarenes, both root and branch. Misunderstanding that disaster, the Jews ceased in any appreciable numbers to accept the gospel. After 70 A.D. the church gradually changed its complexion. From that time to the present it has been largely a Gentile Church whereas prior to that date it had dominantly been a Jewish body.

During this period the church has not one time given the gospel to the world. This fact is hard for us to comprehend, since our Lord specifically charged His disciples to give the gospel to every creature. According to the New Testament teaching there is but one duty which our Lord imposed upon His church, namely, to evangelize the world. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth. But for some reason the energy of the disciples was diverted into other channels and the church has spent her time and resources in what might be called the by-products of Christianity,--worthy as they are. But the one specific charge of evangelizing the world she has neglected. The history of Christianity is clear and positive on this point.

In making this observation, I do not wish to belittle the splendid work which has been done by numerous individuals and organizations. Many and glorious have been the triumphs of the Cross as it has been held up by faithful, consecrated missionaries who have left all to make Christ known in the dark spots of earth. While we give honor to whom honor is due and praise to whom it is due, I can not close my eyes to the fact that the Gentile church at no time of its history has ever done that one and only task imposed upon her by her absent Lord.