Dr. Walter L. Wilson
so that his message of God’s love re vealed at Calvary was accepted by many of the natives. The Stokelys and Katherine Beard are c a r r y i n g the message of Christ to the Navajo Indians in their hogans and through their kindness have won them for the Saviour. God’s love softens the soil for the seed. 4. LEARNTHE LESSONOF VALUES. 1 Cor. 2:2. The only message worth carrying to lost sinners in the foreign field or at home is the story of the saving power of Christ Jesus. History proves the failure of any other program. Some go with images and pretend to be of the Christian faith. Others go with the program of education and some seek to take a social service program to those who sit in darkness. None of these plans will change a heathen who loves his sins into a saint who loves the Saviour. No amount of wor shiping Mary or counting beads will transform a human life. No amount of sophistry or human betterment pro grams will take the p l a c e of the precious blood of Christ and the sav ing power of the living Lord. The message must be about Him. January 12, 1947 RECENT CHURCHMEN WHO RISKED MUCH. Heb. 11:33-40. Men in false faiths have risked much and endured great hardships in their efforts to propagate their evil doctrines. The followers of Mormon- ism, Russellism, Seventh D ay Ad ventism, Catholicism, and other false religious systems are just as zealous in their endeavors to promulgate these doctrines of darkness as God’s dear saints are in telling the true story of salvation by grace through the living, risen Lord. Current history tells the story of many noble sacrifices in recent years on the part of those who were true to the Word and also of those who were false leaders, teach ing evil doctrines. Zeal leads to sacri fice whether for the right or for the wrong. Let us consider in this article some of those noble characters who have so faithfully stood their ground for the Word of God and the Son of God under most distressing conditions. 27
Many years of service in India have produced a meager one, two, or three who trusted the Saviour. Fisher la bored among the Indians along the Canadian border and Brainerd labored among the savages along the Hudson.
January 5. 1947 WHAT CHURCH HISTORY TEACHES US. Eph. 2:13-22. The reading of church history is most enlightening and profitable. It is a history filled with deeds of valor both for the right and for the wrong. Men have hazarded their lives for every kind of evil doctrine and have felt quite free to destroy life and property, to pillage and bum in their zeal to defend and to promote that which was utterly wicked in the sight of God. Genuine Christians have also en dured hardships to propagate the true Gospel. They have penetrated wilder nesses and pioneered among the wild est tribes in order that the precious Gospel of the grace of God might reach to the uttermost boundaries. 2feal and daring enterprise do not always assure orthodoxy and true faith. Let us learn from church his tory the blessing of being God’s true servants. 1. LEARN THE LESSON OF FAITH. Heb. 11:33. Count Zinzendorf gave his life to the Lord Jesus when he was five years old. Shortly thereafter he or ganized prayer groups among the boys and girls in his village. He pro moted missions in every possible way and the history of his wonderful suc cess by the time he was twenty-five stirs the hearts of all who read it. Carey labored to bring the Gospel to the Hindus by the printed page. Alexander Duff sought to carry the message to as many as possible in India through his years of labor. John G. Paton took his life in his hands to reach the cannibals of the South Sea Islands with the story of Calvary. Griffiths entered Madagascar by faith with the story of God’s love and those fierce natives were subdued by the Gospel story. 2. LEARN THE LESSON OF PA TIENCE. Jas. 1:4. History records that the Gospel is not quickly understood by the heathen whose minds have been darkened by paganism. Years of labor in China have brought only a few converts. DECEMBER, 1946
Dr. Walter L . Wilson Both found a very slow response to their pleas for the Lord. Only a few seemed to receive the light of the glorious Gospel. Those who pioneered in the wilds of the Amazon Valley have testified to the dullness of per ception of those wild men. Patience is greatly needed in all these fields. 3. LEARN THE LESSON OF LOVE. Rom. 2:4. Missionaries and Christian workers have learned that kindness will pro duce deeper impressions than force. Those who have sought to propagate the genuine Gospel have done so with grace, love, and a compassionate ministry. John Williams on the Island of Anawa won the cannibals by his gracious care for their needs. They saw the blessing of his min istry and accepted the message he brought. Wallace Logan entered the wilds of Northern Rhodesia with his ministry of kindness and helpfulness
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