The Superintending Providence of God 7 1. In the divine preparations for world-wide evangeliza- tion. 2. In the divine co-operation in missionary activity. 3. In the divine benediction upon all faithful service. g o d ’ s p r e p a r a t i o n s Each of these embraces many particulars which demand more than a rapid glance. God’s preparations reached through millenniums. But within the century just closed we see Him moving, opening doors and shaping events, causing the re- moval of obstacles and the subsidence of barriers, raising up and thrusting forth workers, and furnishing new facilities; and conspicuously in promoting Bible translation and diffusion. g o d ’ s c o - o p e r a t i o n His co-operation is seen in the unity and continuity of the work, in the marked fitness between the workers and the work, the new fields and the new facilities. Startling correspond- ences in mission history reveal His omnipresence and faith- fulness, such as synchronisms and successions among His chosen servants, parallel and converging lines of labor, and connecting links of service. All these, and much more, show, behind the lives and deeds of the workmen, a Higher Power that wrought in them both to will and to work. g o d ’ s b e n e d i c t i o n Mission history shows also clear traces of the Judge. Hindrances and hinderers at times removed by sudden retribu- tive judgments; nations that would not serve His ends de- clining and even perishing; and churches, cursed with spiritual apathy and lethargy, decaying. On the other hand, His ap- proval has been as marked in compensations for self-denial and in rewards for service; in making martyr blood the seed of new churches, and in lifting to a higher level the individual and church life that has been most unselfishly jealous and zeal- ous of His kingdom.
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