208
March 1929
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
Fresh Evidences of th e Sp irit’s Work Among Children ^HHg^RESH evidences of the manifestation of the Holy ITjfl Spirit’s work among children have encouraged fO L many of the Lord’s people to take a greater inter- j l roLS^ est in the evangelization of the youth of our na- tion than heretofore. Thousands of praying peo- pie have been led by the Holy Spirit into a life of intercession in behalf of children, who perhaps prayed very little in that direction before. Many earnest workers have been raised up, not only to give of their time but of their money as well, who have given very little time or money to the cause of child evangelism in the past. Is it not a fact that missionary work among children and young people in general has been sadly neglected? How many evangelistic campaigns do you know of that have been especially arranged for children during the past twenty-five years? Also how many Bible conferences do you know of whose object was the deepening of the Christ life among children ? Was it not Christ who said, “Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16) ? Is it not a fact that over ninety per cent of our large Protestant churches were built with no thought whatever to provide proper facilities for the housing and teaching of children, apart from some rooms in the basement which in a great many cases were neither healthy nor appropri ate ? Do you not think it is about time that we resurrect the children from the basement of our neglect and give them the place which we believe to be God’s plan and purpose for them in this dispensation of grace? Did it ever occur to the reader that it might be a little child who would complete the church of Christ? Do you remember what Christ said about the good seed and the good ground? You will find this record in Luke 8 :11-15, especially the 15th verse, which says, “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” Did you ever think the good ground spoken of by Christ is the hearts of children who have proved so responsive to the good seed sown by the League during the past six years? Such evidences should lead to much meditation and earnest prayer and, therefore, a desire on our part to think of this movement as worthy of serious efforts in evangelizing the unevangelized multitudes of children in the United States and other countries. How G od W orks T hrough T h e L eague The following excerpts from many of the local secre taries of the School-Bag Gospel League will, I am sure, help us to pray more intelligently and to work more ear nestly for the cause of Christ among children than hereto fore: A secretary of the League writes from Indiana: “Our school children are just ‘devouring’ the Gospels. (Had 175 of John and 25 each of the other Gospels.) We shall need about 200 Testaments. Please send soon. Spreading like wildfire.” From a New Jersey town comes this word: “This afternoon I saw a lad of about eleven years, son of a uni versity professor, standing on the campus ‘holding up’ all the children that came his way and asking, ‘Do you want to join the School-Bag Gospel League?’ He was very indus trious about it, too. We have a good many Catholic mem bers; in fact, they come second, with Presbyterians first.”
The secretary in another New Jersey town writes: “The children are very much interested in the work, espe cially the Jews, who are getting their first knowledge of the New Testament. I greatly enjoy the work. While it takes quite a lot of time, it is time spent in something so worth while.” From a town in Pennsylvania comes this report: “My prayer group meet every Lord’s Day evening, and Wed nesday evening. Nearly all the children are being in structed in the truth. I have enrolled 420, given out 175 Testaments” (three months’ work). When the Bryan Bible School was formed, which was a direct result of the School-Bag Gospel League effort in one section of the Bronx, New York City, it was decided to have the children bring in birthday money as a token that they owed all to Jesus Christ. Our health, strength, joy, and even life are sustained by Him. Therefore, it is fit ting to give to His cause some simple gift each birthday as a reminder of how much we owe to Him. It was thought best that the birthday money of the B. B. S. should be used only to buy Gospels and Testaments for free distribution. Last Christmas the school decided to make the gift to the King of kings. The birthday money for the past year bought almost 800 Gospels and Testaments. A blessing was asked on them, and they are being sent out by the League to tell boys and girls about Jesus and His love for them. What better use could be made of birthday money, or any money for that matter, than this? It truly was— as the School desired it to be—a royal gift to a royal King, and it is the prayer and desire of the officers, teachers and children that next year the Lord will enable them to do better than they have this year. If you are interested in combating the work of the Junior Atheists in the schools, get in touch at once with the School-Bag Gospel League, 113 Fulton St., New York. as A Supernatural Christ THE supernatural element is so woven into the struc ture of the Christian revelation that the fact of its exist ence underlies all the distinctive doctrines of the faith. The supernatural factor is itself the outstanding Christian doctrine. And we may say this without countenancing the exaggerated supernaturalism that finds in a miracle the explanation of all difficulties or that seeks to inculcate a theory of the Bible that the Book itself does not make in its own behalf. Take, for example, such a cardinal Christian doctrine as the nature of Christ. If we can explain the person of Jesus as the product of evolution or of historic forces, what right have we to assume that He is the last term in the series, or that there is any element of finality in His teachings or His work? But the moment we look upon Jesus as the Scriptures warrant we occupy absolutely impregnable ground for maintaining the authority of His words and the success of His mission. “What difference does it make whether or not Jesus was a supernatural person?” asks some thoughtless ob jector. “Whoever He was, we have Him.” Yes, we have Him, but if He is the Second Person of the Trinity then our whole relationship to Him is shifted from our rela tion to a man of spiritual insight and genius to our relation to “God manifest in the flesh.” The supernatural factor manifested in the incarnation lifts Jesus into the realm of the ultimate.— Watchman-Examiner.
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