Dr. Alexander Duff, that great veteran missionary to India, returned to Scoland to die, and as he stood before the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, he made his appeal, but there was no response. In the midst of his appeal he fainted and was carried off the platform. The doctor bent over him and examined his heart. Presently he opened his eyes.
"Where am I?" he cried. "Where am I?"
"Lie still," said the doctor. "You have had a heart attack. Lie still."
"But," exclaimed Dr. Duff, "I haven't finished my appeal. Take me back. Take me back. I must finish my appeal."
"Lie still," said the doctor again. "You will go back at the peril of you life."
But, in spite of the protests of the physician, the old warrior struggled to his feet, and, with the Doctor on one side and the Moderator of the Assembly of the other side, he again mounted the steps of the pulpit platform, and, as he did so, the entire assembly rose to do him honor. Then, when they were seated, he continued his appeal. And this is what he said:
"When Queen Victoria calls for volunteers for India, hundreds of young men respond; but, when King Jesus calls, no one goes."
Then he paused. There was silence. Again he spoke:
"Very well," he concluded, "then, aged though I am, I'll go back to India. I can lie down on the banks of the Ganges and I can die and thereby I can let the people of India know that there was one man in Scotland who loved them enough to give his life for them."
In a moment, young men all over the assembly sprang to their feet, crying, "I'll go! I'll go!" And after the old white-haired warrior had been laid to rest, these young men, having graduated, found their way to dark benighted India, there to labor as his substitutes for the Lord Jesus Christ.
My friend, will you go? Has God spoken to you? Have you heard His Call? Will you not answer, "Lord, here am I, send me"? And if you cannot go, will you not send a substitute? It is for you to decide.
Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice before everyone has heard it once?
For more mission articles, see also:
Our Passion: SOULS!
"Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice