By WARREN WEBSTER When our Lord was here on earth He often spoke in parables to pre sent heavenly truths. In Matthew 13 we have His explanation of how “the Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed." Although infinitely small when it is planted it grows so large that birds can make their nests in the branches. Christ was seeking to show that He was setting in action a movement which had the power of growth and multiplying within itself. It would spread its influence and power around the world. If anything ever began small it was certainly the Church of Jesus Christ. Only a handful of disciples gathered around our Saviour when He ascended into heaven. The company of believers gathering to gether in the upper room was about 120. In Palestine during those days there were probably about four million people. One- hundred twenty was but a handful. That would be about one out of every 30,000 inhabitants. The amazing thing is that those young believers went out at Christ's bid ding.
Today the Gospel reaches around the earth because of their faith fulness in committing unto others things which they had learned. It has been well said that "The sun never sets upon the Church of Je sus Christ." It has been estimated that in the last 150 years more people have become Christians, and more churches have been planted, than in the previous 1800 years. I challenge you to find a land where there are no Christians to day. One commentator has said that so far as we know, at the most, only one independent nation, probably Mongolia, is the only place left on the face of the earth in which the church has not been represented. Twenty years ago, when I was in graduate study anticipating minis try in Pakistan, there were at least half a dozen countries in Central Asia closed to the Gospel. Cod is most significantly at work. Take a look at Tibet which no longer ex ists as an independent nation. Yet, the Tibetan people are in closer contact with the Gospel than ever before. The Bible was translated
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