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SEPTEMBER, 1946
“Though your sins be as scarlet, They shall be as white as snow.” The whole family came into the church and were greatly used of God. But ours is a Gospel also that reaches out to the young, to those who are untaught, who are sinned against as well as sinning. One morning at three o’clock a man came to my house and wakened me. “ I am sorry to trouble you, Sir,” he said, “ but a girl . . . is dying . . . and she wanted me to ask you to come and pray with her.” I dressed hastily and went with him. We arrived at a place which I knew to be of evil reputation. I was taken to a room where a little girl was lying—a pretty child not more than sixteen years,of age. I am a father, with a fathe/s heart, and when I saw that poor sufferer, I forgot all about her being in a house of shame. Going over to her, I tilted the lamp shade slightly so that light fell on her face. She read my thoughts. “No,” she said, “you don’t knew me . . . But I know you . . . I couldn’t wait until morning . . . Because I’m dying.” There was a pause. Then, “Oh, don’t let me die this way.” Wasn’t I glad at that moment that I believed the Gospel of the grace of God? What other message could avail for a time like this? Kneeling beside her bed, I talked to the child of the Saviour and His love for her. She asked me, “ Isn’t there a story in the Bible about the ninety and nine, and one that went astray?” ' “Yes,” I replied, “that is in the fif teenth chapter of Luke.” As I read those precious words aloud, I was speaking to perhaps the most attentive audience that ever lis tened to my voice. There were five other girls kneeling about the bed. They were all weeping. Seeing them there, I understood the deep meaning of the Gospel narrative as I never had perceived it before. . “There is another shepherd story in the Bible,” I explained. “ It is the account of the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep, and who gives eternal life to those who trust Him.” I read that portion too, and the dying girl drank in every word. Sweetly she received the Lord Jesus Christ as her Saviour and I prayed with her. Over and over she ex claimed, "Oh, this is wonderful! The Shepherd has found me!” Because her heart was now at rest, I thought perhaps her physical con dition would improve, so I returned to my home. My dear wife was sit ting up waiting for me, and when I told her of what had taken place, she said, “ Father, you shouldn’t have left her!” I went back immediately, but the
I DOOR ¡ I S
Chaplain Carl L. Blackler A VISION appeared to Paul Macedonia, and help us” (Acts 16:9). Thus the call came to the Church of the first century, and today the Church hears another call. It is from a nation bruised and battered, bombed and burned, beaten and benighted, on her knees, with her eyes toward Amer ica, pleading for missionaries of the Gospel. It was the writer’s privilege to spend some time in Japan and to in terview outstanding individuals well acquainted with the situation in that interesting land. The constant appeal was for “many missionaries,” and the time indicated was always the same— “Now !” There are at present 400,000 Chris tians in Japan, 250,000 Protestants and 150,000 Catholics. The Jesuit priest from Kyoto has stated: “Japan needs four or five hundred missionaries .right now.” Kagawa, of the Co-opera tives, has said: “ There are two hun dred cities in Japan; we need at least two hundred missionaries.” The question n a t u r a l l y arises: “How will the missionaries be re ceived?” Part of the answer can be found in the Japanese attitude toward the occupation forces. The common people like what General MacArthur is doing and consider him their lib erator. It is possible to travel any where in Japan without fear. The Japanese people are eager for the Gospel. Chaplains are constantly on call to teach English Bible classes, varying in attendance from fifty to fifteen hundred. Lt. Colonel Moore, who was bom of missionary parents, and reared in Japan, has made this declaration: “I could take o ff on an itinerary trip now, and speak to thousands. The situation is very ripe. Now is the time to hit it hard, if we are going to hit it at all.” Chaplain Kregel, division chaplain with the First Cavalry Divi sion, reported that one of his chap; lains closed a series of evangelistic meetings which had been attended by one to two thousand persons each night. He himself had been invited ( Continued on Page 384/
in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come ove
Hr. P. W. Philpott one named Mary had already died. One of her companions said to me, “We were wishing you were here. She kept saying, ‘The Shepherd is holding me to His heart! Oh girls, it is won derful ! . . . I’m going to see Him.’ ” How I thanked God that morning that He had kept me believing and preaching the Word which is “the power of God unto salvation” ! About fifteen years ago I was vis iting in that city and on one occasion preached to an audience of old friends. After the meeting, a woman came up and asked whether I recog nized her. When I reluctantly said no, she mentioned the scene of Mary’s conversion, and the whole picture flashed before me. “I was the girl,” she explained, “who met you at the door the morn ing after Mary died—the one who told you how happy she was when the Lord took her. I wanted to say some thing else to you: that when Mary came in on one shoulder of Jesus, I came in on His(pther shoulder!” Blessed be God! What a wonderful Saviour is ours—“able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him” (Heb. 7:25). For more than sixty years, He has been to me personally “ the God who is enough.” He saved me by His grace. He put within me a desire to witness for Him. Often through sorrow and tears, He taught me deep lessons in comfort. He kept me believing the Bible in its blessed e n t i r e t y and preaching it in simplicity, with the result that souls have been saved by His power. Sixty wonderful years! "Bless the Lord, O my soul.”
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