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February, 1944
UNLIKELY PLACES [Continued from Page 49]
del Fuego and stated that the Fue- gians were so low down in the human scale that it was impossible to raise them. Years afier, he paid a second visit. He found the Fuegians Chris tianized and civilized. He returned to England and acknowledged his mis take/ in the only fair and frank way open to him, by sending a check for a substantial sum to the missionary society that had been God’s agency for raising the Fuegians. A similar story can be told con cerning the Australian aboriginals, the hill tribes of India, and the canni bals of the Congo Basin. The fact is that the really determin ing factors of life are not external; the forces that make for character are internal. The creating of charac ter is not outside but within our con trol. History teaches that, by the grace of God, adverse circumstances and contrary conditions have been made to contribute to the creating and maintenance of the Christian charac ters of many of the world’s greatest men and women, the benefactors of our race. Character Conquers Conditions These “ saints in Caesar’s household” ' were characterized by Christian char acter, constancy, consistency, and con tentment. It is evident that Nero,- the greatest persecutor of Christians o f 1 the age, would not have employed these hated Christians if it had not been well worth his while so to do. It is obvious that they were saints in state as well as standing. It is equally clear *that the constancy and consistency of their Christian charac ter made them so much more valuable as servants that Nero pocketed his persecuting zeal in order to secure their servicte. Their contentment is evidenced by the fact that they were sufficiently free from thraldom to their own con ditions to be able to think of and send greetings to their fellow Chris tians in Philippi. And we? We are “ called to be saints,” tp be “worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called,” to reveal by Christian character, by constancy and consistency of conduct, by con tentment contributing to the well being of others, the reality of our regeneration. Are we so doing? ' Christian Vocation Who and what were these saints?' They were found in three walks of life that symbolize and reveal the vocations of the .Christian. Some of them were soldiers of the Emperor's bodyguard. Paul says that His bonds in Christ were manifest in all the palace, “ throughout the whole prae torian guard.” Why did Nero choose Christians as members of his personal 'bodyguard
if not because they were more trust worthy and reliable than others? And we? We are to endure hardness as “good soldiers of Jesus Christ.” We have a “banner to be displayed because of the truth” ;: we are to put on the “ whole armor of God,” to wage war against wrong, to “fight the good fight of faith.” Paul stated also that through his bonds “manifest § . . in all places” he had reached out to “ all the rest.” These included stewards of the Em peror's household, the men who re ceived and distributed his. goods, who kept his accounts and stores. Again we ask why did Nero, the prime an tagonist of Christians, choose them to be his stewards? Obviously the an swer is that they were trustworthy, honest, dependable in a greater de gree than any one else he could com mand. Arid we? We are “ stewards of the manifold [variegated] grace of God.” It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. We have “ pounds” and “ talents” entrusted to us, and we shall have to give an account of our stewardship. Some have one gift, some another, others more than one. We all are expected to be faithful in exercise, and we shall all have to account for our stewardship. But they were all slaves; the purchased prop erty of their owner. And we? We were “ bought with a price” ; we were “redeemed,' not with . . . silver or gold . . . but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:18, 19, R. V.). Paul, who loved to call himself the' bondslave of Jesus Christ, has put into famous words the expression of the Christian’s motive: “The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that one died for ally therefore all died, and he died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again.” Thank God for all who are doing that—for t h e “saints in unlikely places” who are glorifying Him. ÜÜ S Ä G O W N S , II Fine materials, beautiful work, \ pleasingly low prices. . Catalog ] and samples on request. State - your needs and name of church. DeMoulin Bros. & Co. «6 S, 14th St.. Greenville, HI. HALF TONE ELECTROTYPES For th^ embellishment of Church Printing. Our Portfolio of 300 Subject* FREE to Ministers. - GOODENOUGH & WOGLOM CO. 296 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y .
in the desolate dells of Mt. Vesuvius grow medicinal herbs for the healing of the nations. It would seem almost that where man most blackens and burns, God goes out of His way to beautify and bless. We may see it in animal nature. There are places and periods on our Pacific Coast where you may see shoals of shining salmon going down stream. At another scene and season, you may see strong salmon rushing up stream, leaping to. reach the top of the rapids and rocks barring their way to the upper level, battering and bruising their snouts in the process, but persisting until they reach the upper water. But if you wanted to eat salmon, you would choose from the latter kind. The former are going down stream because they are dead; the latter are seeking to surmount the obstacles to the upper level be cause they are alive, very much alive! Building His Church You may combine natural and human history and get further il lustrations. Said a visitor to Patrick Henry’s village to his friend: “No wonder Patrick Henry was the man he was, living in such beautiful sur roundings.” But a simple-minded v il lager overheard and remarked, *‘But our village only produced one Patrick Henry!” . You may visit the beautiful Lake District of England and, viewing the exquisitely beautiful sylvan scenery of Grassmere and Eydal Wafer, ex claim: “No wonder Wordsworth was the poet of nature, living here!” But when you reflect, you w ill recall that thousands of others have lived there without becoming poets. ■ You may illustrate from the story of the Christian Church. Christ said: “ I w ill build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,” and He took a little band of peasant fishermen, with all the powers of im perial Rome and ecclesiastical Jewry arrayed against it, and out of that raw material He built His church. It has always been true that “the blood of the martyrs is the seed 6i the Christian church.” He is building His chureh in Russia today: a land frpm which the Bible has been banned since May, 1929; where the.majority of the places of worship have been closed, cathedrals turned into anti-God museums, Chris tians starved, slaughtered, and sent to Siberia; yet the increase of the evangelicals has been in the ratio of six to one as against the growth of the membership of the Communist party. You may see the “same thing re- ve'aled in modern missionary enter prise. Charles Darwin went to Tierra
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