To the End of the Age

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations…behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”—Matthew 28:19–20 NASB

Robert Finley was born in Pennsylvania to Christian parents who had come to the New World from Scotland. Attending Princeton College, he prepared for a career as a teacher of languages. But as his son James later wrote, “There were great and pressing calls for ministerial labor in the new settlements of the Carolinas and Georgia.” Robert responded.

This was a bold decision. The “country was in an unsettled state” with “the gloomy clouds of war” hanging over the land. Tensions were high between the colonies and the English government. There also were strong divisions within Americans. Some advocated independence while others remained loyal to England. Eventually these divisions exploded in a violent revolution.

Going to the mission field meant leaving behind friends and family for life in a rugged, often untamed region, without any financial support. There, they faced constant peril and violence. All of his wife’s brothers were killed, and Robert himself was wounded.

But as James wrote, Robert trusted “in God for help and direction.” In the face of dangers and unknowns, he refused to back down and continued preaching the Gospel.

Today, Finley is hardly a footnote in history. But he was a hero of the faith. He was more concerned with serving his Master than the world’s rewards. He was willing to leave everything behind to fulfill the Great Commission.

This still is our command until the end of the age.

Reflection Question:How are you helping to fulfill the Great Commission?