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September, 1933
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
OCTOBER 22,1933 HOW CHRIST HAS CHANGED LIFE IN MISSIONARY COUNTRIES A cts 19:9-20 Suggestions for the Meeting Hymn—“Jesus Shall Reign.” Hymn—“ Go Labor On.” Prayer. Hymn—“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ N ame.” Scripture. Duet'—“Living for Jesus.” Testimonies. Leader’s Message. Hymn—“ From Greenland’s Icy Moun tains.” Quiet Hour. Benediction—Jude 24, 25. If some of the Endeavorers would dress in costumes representing India, China, Ja pan, etc., and give their testimony as if it were personal, it would add much to the effectiveness of the message. Meditation on the Lesson This interesting bit from the missionary journeys of Paul is a marvelous example of how Christ changes people when He comes into their lives. Paul stayed longer in Ephesus than anywhere else in all his travels. Two things account for this: First, it was a most important city; sec ond, the interest remained intense. At first, we see Paul in the synagogue, as was his custom. “ To the Jew first” was his watchword. For three months, we find him preaching boldly, but when he saw that “divers were hardened,” he was wise enough to realize that it was best no longer to “cast pearls before swine.” Hence, Paul set an example of wise with drawal as well as brave pertinacity when he left the synagogue with its unbelieving critical hearers. Notice, too, the accusation. “They spake evil of that way.” This ex pression “the way” occurs often in the Acts. Christ truly is “the way,” the only “way,” the “way everlasting.” It took courage to rent a school, or hire a house from a philosopher, but this is what Paul did, to the horror, no doubt, of the rabbis. It was a complete breaking with the synagogue and a bold appeal to the heathen public. Wonderful results followed. Special mir acles were wrought. Sick were healed, and evil spirits were cast out. The best of all, though, is the fact stated in verse 17, “The name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.” When Christ is exalted, blessed results al ways follow, and transformations occur. So we are not surprised when we read: “And many that believed came, and con fessed, and showed their deeds. Many 'of them also which used curious arts brought their books together and burned them be fore all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.” Only the power o f the risen, exalted Lord Jesus Christ could so move and compel folk to make such out and out profession o f their faith. Leader’s Helps I. T he T estimony of D arwin When Charles Darwin, the great sci entist, in his famous voyage in the Beagle, visited Terra del Fuego and saw the utter savagery and beastliness of the natives, he deliberately, in the exercise of his trained scientific judgment, pronounced them be yond hope. Years afterward Darwin stop
Rich treasures of gold and silver were stored there. A large part of the city lived on the trade which had been created by the existence of the great temple and the thou sands of pilgrims who flocked there. De metrius was the leader of the silversmiths who made their living selling tiny silver images of Diana. Great was his anxiety, lest this new teaching of Paul, “that there be no gods which are made with hands,” would de stroy their business. So he incited a riot. The devil is shrewd. He knew just the right way for Demetrius to begin, so he gave him the argument. “ Our craft is in danger to be set at nought.” Chrysostom said: “It was not for their religion, because the Ephesians thought that in danger; no, it was for their lucrative craft, that they would have no thing to do with the apostles. Wherever there is idolatry, in every case we find money at the bottom of it.” : Leader’s Helps I. P ertinent B its If the missionaries had never carried the gospel to our ancestors, instead o f our riding in automobiles, America might have remained a wilderness until this day, and we might have been squatting on our haunches gnawing a bone after the style of our unevangelized ancestors o f Europe. '■ Si —H eadland . A world without a gospel means a world without insurance companies. Life and property are not protected where paganism reigns. II. C ommercial V alue of M issions There is one result of the missionary ef fort which is often overlooked—the safety ■secured to ships in the Pacific that visit to refit or recruit in the different groups of islands. In former times, there was not an island in all Polynesia where a ship could touch without imminent peril. There is scarcely a group of islands with which is not connected some tale o f massacre. Now, throughout the whole of Eastern Poly nesia, except perhaps the Marquesas Is lands, ships may anchor, refit, and recruit; and the seamen may wander in safety through the groves. If the missions in the Pacific had been sustained entirely by our government and the governments of Europe, it would have been a small ex penditure compared with the mere com mercial advantages which have been gained. What does it require to support one man-of-war or one exploring squad ron? Yet how limited the results in com parison ; how small, I say, if we look merely at the commercial benefit to the world 1—D ibble . III. A B ig B usiness I nvestment If you want to talk business, the biggest investment this world has is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It has done more for the de velopment of the world than any other one force. No greater mistake can be made by short sighted, narrow-minded, selfish business men than to suppose that missions inter fere with business. They promote trade. The only business that missions would in terfere with, if they could, would be the shipping of such intoxicants as injure the health and character of the natives. And the time will come when every high-minded business man of vision and foresight will do all in his power to further missions, even though his motive be nothing higher than to promote his own business. ■—H eadland .
ped there on another voyage. In the mean time, missionaries had carried the gospel to these hopeless creatures. Upon seeing the change Darwin could hardly believe the evidence of his senses. Comparing a heathen and a Christian Fuegian, he writes: “ It was without exception the most cur ious and interesting spectacle I ever beheld. I could not have believed how wide was the difference between savage and civilized man. Viewing such men as the Fuegian converts, one can hardly make oneself be lieve that they are fellow creatures and inhabitants of the same world. The suc cess of the mission is most wonderful and charms me, as I always prophesied utter failure. I could not have believed that all the missionaries in the world could have made the Fuegians honest. The mission is a grand success.” II. T ransforming P ower of the G ospel Bishop Lambuth writes thus of the trans forming power of the gospel in Congo. It is eye-witness’ testimony to the miraculous change wrought by Christ on those who a few years before were savages and often cannibals: “A mere handful of white and colored . . . missionaries have gathered about them 8,000 earnest Christians, and out of this number 3,000 teachers and evangelists, who, while they themselves are under train ing, have daily under instruction thou sands of children and grown people. Not one ordained preacher as yet, and 200 of the force o f 300 self-supporting I These men are Christian school teachers. They know God. I rarely have heard such prayers. They have learned how to talk with God, and with a devoutness of spirit which is marvelous they are leading the people in the way of truth and right living. Think o f 300 turning out every morning of the year for a six o’clock prayer meet ing! Think o f a semi-circle of prayer meetings at Luebo every Wednesday even ing, extending for two miles I Is there any wonder we feel the presence of the Lord?”—D esire of all N ations . OCTOBER 29, 1933 COMMERCE AND M ISS ION S - ALLIES OR ENEMIES? A cts 19:21-29 Suggestions for the Meeting Hymn—“My Soul, Be on Thy Guard.” Hymn—“ Onward, Christian Soldiers.” Prayer. Responsive Scripture Reading. Solo—“Where He Leads Me, I Will Fol low.” Leader’s Message. Talk by a Missionary. Quiet Hour. Benediction—Numbers 6 :24-26. Meditation on the Lesson Paul had long had a desire to see Rome, and in this passage he reiterates his deter mination to go there. We who know his history know that he accomplished his de sire, and the book of Acts closes with Paul in Rome. The awful uproar that occurred in Ephesus is a startling demonstration of how “the love o f money is the root of all evil.” The temple of Diana was magnifi cent, one of the seven wonders of the an cient world. The structure was 420 feet long and nearly 250 feet wide. Some parts may be seen in the British museum. Hun dreds of persons, such as priests, temple wardens, and virgin priestesses, were in connection with the temple.
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