Daily EncouragementSample

This phrase, embedded in the account of the Great Commission, is a good reason not to doubt the narrative. It would hardly have been included if Matthew’s gospel were a fabrication!

Doubters are always present when the missionary task of the Church is announced. What do they doubt?

The Person of the Master. All doubt about missions is ultimately doubt about him. That day on the Galilean mountain they had some reason to doubt - it was all so sudden, so unexpected. We who have seen almost two thousand years of his triumph have no reason to doubt.

The Programme of the Master. It seems impractical. The field is so wide - “all nations.” The disciples are so few - “the eleven.” The prospect is so ambitious - “make disciples.” Again, we have much less reason to doubt than the eleven had!

The Presence of the Master. Can it be true? “Would you like me to tell you what supported me through all the years of exile among people whose language I could not understand and whose attitude towards me was always uncertain and often hostile?” David Livingstone asked an audience at Glasgow University. “It was this; ‘Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ On these words I staked everything and they never failed.”