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the gospel, and the story will be flat. No one ever comes to know Jesus as his per sonal Saviour and Lord without being given the command: “ Go tell.” Generally speaking, we think o f mission aries as those who go to “the far corners o f the earth,” or perhaps those who give full-time service in some special and diffi cult field at home. Yet is it not true that every Christian is given his or her par ticular field o f service for the Master? God has need o f all, and He wants, in every corner, to have His witness, His represen tative, His ambassador. The little maid who pointed her master, Naaman, to the true God; the man who sought his own brother and “tugged him to Jesus” ; Philip, who was willing to occupy a place of prominence as preacher in a great revival ■or be a personal worker with the solitary Ethiopian—o f each one the Lord had need. Suggestions on Daily Readings I. T imothy an E vangelist (2 Tim. 4:5 ). Paul’s ministry at Lystra came to a sud den close when the mob rose against him and stoned him. However, the preaching bore fruit, for it was at Lystra that Tim othy was converted. A very sweet and unusual friendship sprang up between the worn old apostle and his “own son in the faith,” as he tenderly called Timothy. Some twelve years later we find this young man shepherding the church at Ephesus. It would appear that some o f the parishoners had been trying to persuade this young minister to turn aside from the gospel of salvation in Christ, to the speculative phil osophies o f the heretical teachings of the day. Paul therefore warns Timothy to preach not what the people desire—not to “tickle their ears,” as it were—but to preach what the people need, namely, the Word o f God (2 Tim. 4:2). He would have Timothy hew the line and not be swerved aside. He charges Timothy to permit nothing to mar or hinder his high calling; nor is Timothy to expect or to seek “flowery beds o f ease.” He is to leave nothing undone. II. H ardships to be E ndured (Acts 27:39-44). Because he knew that all people needed Jesus Christ, Paul preached in places where he had not been asked and was not wanted. He suffered much as a result of his zeal. Some one has paralleled passages from the Gospels and from Acts in this signifi cant way: “It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master,” said the Lord. “I bear in my body the marks o f the Lord Jesus,” said Paul. “Then took they up stones to cast at him.” “Having stoned Paul." “The band . . . took Jesus, and bound him.” “ They bound him [Paul] with thongs.” “ One o f the officers which stood by struck Jesus.” “ The high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him [Paul].” “ He is beside himself.” “Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.” “W e found this fellow perverting the nation.” “He stirreth up the people.” “ W e have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover o f sedition." “All the disciples forsook him.” “A ll men forsook me." “Away with him, crucify him.” “Away
with such a fellow from the earth: fo r it is not fit that he should live." III. H elping the S ick (Acts 28:8-10). At the feet o f a medical missionary, a grateful mother and father knelt to wor ship her as a goddess, for she had restored their child to health. The missionary reach ed forth her hand and raised their pros trated forms, saying, “We are not gods. Worship the true and living God.” The ignorant parents replied: “ You must be a god. No one but a god could have saved our child from death.” “Suppose,” said the missionary, “that I wished to bestow a valuable gift upon you, and sent it by the hand o f one o f my coolies. Whom would you thank, the coolie or me?” “You, of course; the coolie is your serv ant,” the parents replied. “And so am I God’s coolie—His servant —by whose hand He has been pleased to send you this gift of healing. It is to Him you must bow and give thanks.” — S elected . Illustrations for the Leader I. R ewarded At one o f the Northfield conferences a few years ago, an American missionary to Africa told a story that stirred the heart of every listener. He had began his work with companions as eager as himself. One by one they succumbed to the terrible cli mate. Three he buried—the others he took to the coast and sent home—ill. Then he turned back, to stand utterly alone, in the midst of hundreds o f thousands of men who had never heard the name o f God. Again and again he tramped the blistered plain with his tongue so swollen that he could not speak. Thirty times he was stricken with fever, with no one to care for him. Lions attacked him; natives am bushed him ; he had lived upon everything from ants to rhinoceroses. And here was his conclusion: “I know the great joy of walking with Jesus Christ in the midst of all this; I stand ready at this moment to go through it all again for the joy I have had in flashing the word ‘Saviour’ into the darkness of a great tribe! Is it God’s will? That makes the wilderness a garden; that makes the desert glow with the very presence of God!”— Youth’s Companion. II. O pportunity The story is told o f one girl who said to her friend, “I ought to have been yours.” “What do you mean?” the other asked. . “When I was seeking the Saviour,” the first girl replied, “I put myself in your way
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