March, 1937
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
109
this is the nineteenth century since Christ said, “ Go ye” ! Look on the fields of India, of Japan, of Tibet, of Mongolia, of Africa, of Latin America, and say, “Lord, here am I; send me.” Something happens to the Christian who really looks. It is said of Fred Curtis, a missionary to Japan, that before he went to his field he expressed in a meeting his reason for going: “Woe is me if I preach not the gospel to the heathen.” Immediately one of his friends arose with the remark: “I know what is the matter with Curtis. He sleeps under a missionary chart on which there are 856 black squares representing 856 million heathen and 190 green squares to represent 190 million Mohammedans. Any man sleeping under such a chart must de cide to become a foreign missionary or have a nightmare every night in the week.” As we obey Christ’s imperatives, “Lift up your eyes,” “ look,” and “ go,” may this be our prayer: “ Stir me, Ohl stir me, Lord. Thy heart was stirred By love’s intensest fire, till Thou didst give Thine only Son, Thy best-beloved One, Even to the dreadful cross, that I might live; Stir me to give myself so back to Thee, That Thou canst give Thyself again through me.” A speaker at a Missionary Congress at Chicago told a story of a certain Christian who said to a friend who was interested in missions, “ The subject of missions is getting on my nerves.” The friend replied, “ I am told that there are two sets of nerves—sensory and motor— on which set of your nerves does this sub ject bear the harder?” — Sunday School Chronicle. II. H elping th e N eighborhood A minister approached a man and asked him to contribute to foreign missions. “ No,” said the man, “ I have enough to do to help my neighbors.” “Well,” responded the pastor, “ who are your neighbors?” “ The people who join lands with me,” the farmer answered. “Very well,” said his questioner. “ How far down does your land extend?” “ To the center of the earth, I suppose.” “All right. Now the man who joins land with you on the other side of the globe is living in heathenism, and I want you to help send the gospel to him.”—J. C. H iden . CHRIST’ S RESURRECTION [Continued from page 87] brethren, and insisted that nothing short of his own senses would cause him to believe. Paul was so unbelieving that he persecuted every man who named the name of Christ. And yet, one after another, they were com pelled to capitulate and accept as true the message: “ He . . . is risen.” The word of Helps for the Leader L N erves
an angel might, in itself, seem to have some authority, but when that word is at tended by such evidences as to convince man after man against his expectation, utterly setting aside his skepticism, who will question its weight? F ive H undred E yew itnesses Again, there is the argument of the sight and statements of sane men. Paul sums up this evidence in his Epistle to the Corin thians. He says: “ He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain until this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time” (1 Cor. 15:5-8). When Mahomet expired, it is reported Omar rushed from the tent, sword in hand, and declared that he would hew down any one who should dare to say that the prophet was no more. But the apostles of Jesus Christ behaved quite to the contrary. They consented that their Hero was dead; they mourned Him as gone forever; they could not believe what their ears heard concern ing His resurrection, and it required the indisputable evidence of His personal pres ence to convince them. When five hundred sane men and women stand up to testify to one thing, who would dispute them without the most overwhelming evidence to the contrary; and where is the evidence that opposed their testimony? A W orld -C h an g in g C o m m an d The speech of Christ Himself also must he considered. Matthew does not finish his report of this evidence until he has recorded the words of Jesus, for the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the place where He had appointed them, “ and Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 28:18-20). From that time until His ascension, He talked with them again and again. Every touch was a new revelation of Himself. Every word was an additional proof. It was the forty days between the resurrection and the ascension that confirmed the faith of His followers, and made them ready to do, to dare, to die! Bold indeed was the faith of those poor, plain fishermen in their march upon the heathenism of the world. What is the ex planation of the confidence which they re posed in the Man of Nazareth? For forty days, He (who had been crucified before their eyes and buried in the tomb of one who had befriended Him, against which a stone had been sealed, and about which a watch had been set) walked with them, and inspired them, and finally ascended into the heavens before their very eyes! Aye, that was the foundation of their faith. That is the explanation of their courage. That is the secret of their willingness to be martyrs! That is the rationale Of the rise of the church.
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