SATISFIED.
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.—There are many motives which combine to urge the disciples of Christ to energy and fidelity in the missionary work: the wretchedness of those who lie in the darkness of heathendom, and especially in the black night of savage superstition; the wrongs and crimes which the introduction of a Christian civilization would in time efface; our sad anticipations for those on whom we must believe the Lord will look with merciful and just consideration, and yet who are surely not fit for the kingdom of God. The fact of the command of Christ were enough, and especially that this was His last and parting charge. But, amid all these, is there a motive so sweet and still so energizing as that which we have written above—that in the contemplation of His salvation accomplished among men, the joy of our Lord shall be full, the purpose of His love attained, and He content to have endured the flesh and the cross? If we love Him because He first loved us, let us remember that His love was not a sentiment, but a sacrifice; that it was measured by what He did for us, and for our salvation; and that it is the sacred claim of His love upon ours, that what sacrifice by us of time, or strength, or means, or life itself, may contribute to the fullness of His joy, to the completeness of His satisfaction, we should give with cheerful and continuous readiness.
Other motives may bear upon us with now greater and now less force; special calls may be heard with more or less distinctness; unusual disclosures of need may make us eager to relieve; but through all, and under all, and greater than all, is this, that we may please our Lord, and contribute somewhat to the completeness of His redemption, and to His satisfaction in the result of all that He has borne and done for sinful men.