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THE KING ’S BUSINESS
“ It makes some difference whether we look upon the support of missions as one among many manifestations of a spirit of charity, whether we look upon charity itself as one among many fruits 'of the spirit, or whether we look upon charity as the nature of the spirit and missionary charity as the manifestation of the spirit in a world which needs'above all things redeeming love. And it makes some difference whether we look upon redeeming love as active toward us only, or as active in us toward others; whether we receive a spirit of redeeming love embracing the world which is active in us, and proceeds from us, or a spirit of redeeming love which proceeds from God to us and stops there. ' ‘The natural man does not desire the revelation of Christ to the world and in the world. He may desire progress, but not Christ. The desire for Christ, the de- iire of Christ in the soul, is a certain sign of the presence of the Spirit of Christ. If, then, a man finds this in his own sou«, he is convinced of the reality of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling in his own soul.”—From “ Essential Missionary Principles” (quoted in Miss. Rev.). It is a fact that where the Church of Rome’s power predominates, ignorance and illiteracy are correspondingly great. It is also a fact that wherever the power of Rome wanes, enlightenment speedily manifests itself. It is a fact, at least in South America, that Rome’s fanatical persecuting policy has not been for the betterment of her mem- bers, either materially or spiritually. It is a fact that while Rome professes to be a Christian church, founded on the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, she not only fonbids her people to read the simplest parts of His Word, but also destroys it whenever possible. •It is also a ’ fact that as the people of South America leave the Roman Catholic Church, the countries progress along all lines. Proof of this is seen in Argentine, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, etc.
It is a fact that the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is winning its way in all parts of South America, in spite of tremendous opposition from the priests. The people are not forced to become Protestants or Chris tians, but are becoming so voluntarily and gladly. Rev. Arthur J. Brown, D. D., one of the secretaries of the Board of Foreign Mis sions, says : “ In my travels in foreign fields I learned that not only the customs of the people hin der missionary activities, but I found the slime of the pit as represented in the Amer ican saloon had been transferred to those fields. There is a brewery in Jerusalem; there is a distillery On Mount Lebanon ; there are American saloons in Damascus. The saloon is the Church’s greatest foe in its foreign missionary work. The mission ary goes to Christianize, while the rumshop follows in his steps to destroy his work,, even to hurl the people back into a worse than heathen darkness. The saloon is the Church’s deadliest enemy at home. It is the spawnshop of infidelity. It is the hot bed of anarchism. It is the inexorable en emy of both Church and home. If possible, the saloon would make its nest in the Bethlehem manger; it would open a bar room on Mount Calvary; it would estab lish its trade on the throne of God Him self.” Those who contribute to foreign missions and give nothing to temperance are like those who sow grain and allow the weeds to choke it. The lamented Professor Olney, of Ann Arbor, used to tell the story of a China man who stood by the wayside hacking at a long log. He never struck twice in the same spot. A traveler came along, and, seeing the uncertain hacking, said, “Well, John, and what are you making?” “ Oh, don’t know,” said John, “maybe idol; may be bedstead!” Just so aimlessly is life often lived that people do not know the real ob ject of their toil.
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