JESUS' EXAMPLE FOR SUCH WORK 131 



His program. In St. Matthew 10 : 7-8 in sending forth 

 the twelve He lays down a program for His disciples. 

 "As ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at 

 hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the leper, raise the dead, 

 cast out devils, freely ye have received freely give." 



Again it is evident that while He puts preaching first it 

 is not all of His Gospel. A series of coordinate clauses 

 give the other parts of His Gospel. ' ' Heal the sick, etc. ' ' 

 So many people tell me they are interested in the work 

 God has given me to do because, like medical missions, 

 "it is a good wedge for the Gospel." When people say 

 this, I wonder what their conception of the Gospel is. Is 

 it sermons only, statements of doctrine, words arranged 

 in tomes of theology, words of fire to convict of sin, 

 words of forgiveness to him who repents, words of hope 

 to cheer the pilgrim on his way, words to comfort the 

 mourner? All these it surely is and must be, but all 

 this does not fill out the compass of His Gospel, nor test 

 its fullest length or depth, breadth or height. 



I utterly repudiate the "wedge theory" for the Gos- 

 pel. The Gospel that I received of the Lord Jesus needs 

 no wedge. A Gospel that needs a wedge needs careful 

 examination. It is not the Gospel that Jesus brought 

 into the world. If the Gospel is not its own wedge then 

 it is the most colossal and pathetic failure of history. 

 Medical missions are the Gospel. Cleansing the lepers 

 is the Gospel, as much as preaching is the Gospel. These 

 carry out His specific commands as much as preaching 

 does. Is not the slow progress of the Gospel over the 

 world to-day partly due to the fact that believers have 

 often had a one-sided and incomplete Gospel ? Less than 

 Jesus laid down as the Gospel? People can often better 

 understand the oral presentation, if there has been loving 



