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'Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you
by us' (2 Cor. 5:20).
'He sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace' (Luke
14:32).
Secondly, ambassadors, apostles, and angels deliver the message given
to them. This most obvious fact is not, alas, so patent when we begin to
take stock of our own service or that of others. The apostle said to the
Corinthians:
'I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received' (1 Cor.
15:3).
The close association of being 'sent' and being told what to say is
exemplified in the commission of Isaiah:
'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us? Then said I, Here am I;
send me. And He said, Go, and tell ...' (Isa. 6:8,9).
Lastly (and this note we hope to strike again and again for our encouragement
and for an example) these special features of service are found in all their
fullness in the Son of God Himself. Neither Peter nor Paul can claim the
title, 'The Chief Apostle', for this belongs to the Lord: 'Consider the
Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus' (Heb. 3:1). He was
pre -eminently the Sent One, and as such, He delivered the message entrusted
to Him:
'My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me' (John 7:16).
'I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father which sent Me, He gave Me
a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak' (John
12:49).
If Paul, in his conception of what a true ambassador should be, could
say, 'as though God did beseech you by us', how much more could this be said
of Christ!
'No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in
the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him' (John 1:18).
'He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father' (John 14:9).
Further, the prophet Malachi refers to Christ under the symbol of an angel,
saying:
'The Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the
Messenger (angel) of the covenant' (Mal. 3:1).
Let us learn from these symbols of true service what is essential in our own,
so that, however lowly our ambassage may be, or however limited the sphere of
our ministry, we shall at least have the comfort and the encouragement of
knowing that we have been 'sent', and that He has said, 'Go ... tell'.
Jeremiah knew this double aspect of service:
'Thou shalt go to all that I shall Send thee, and whatsoever I command
thee thou shalt Speak' (Jer. 1:7).