The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-25
SPREADING GODS TEACHING.
The Rev. DR.. Blackstone Tells of the
Work in Foreign Countries

] was observed as Missionary Day" At
the morning service the Rev. w Z. Black
stone. d. D., of Chicago, the foremost
: missionary evangelist of America ad-
/ dressed the congregation on the subject
/ of the work OF missions. The address was
illustrated by large statistical maps. The
/ text chosen by the speaker was from the
/ Second Corinthians, fifth chapter, part Of
! the nineteenth verse, Hath committed
unto u.s. DR.. Blackstone said in part:
/ Most of the work of Congressional
( legislation, l understand, is done in the
various committees. And / have heard that
when committees fail to do the work as
signed TO them, much unpleasant criti-
cism is heard in the general body of Con-
gress.
L shall speak of Gods commitment.
All Christians are Gods committees, unto
whom he has committed the work of
spreading the gospel. sometimes wonder
what he thinks, as he sees the centuries
go by. and his work still not accomplished.
Has God instructed us anywhere in the
Bible to build churches? Has he at any
time told us to spend $500 O00 and erect
white marble edfces where he may be
worshiped? Never. Has he told US to
build magnificent homes for ourselves, or
to clothe us in beautiful and expensive
raiment? Nowhere in the Word of God
can such directions be found. He did tell
us to evangelize the world.
There are many who sre opposed to
foreign missions, and who believe that
the evangelist's work should be done at
home What is home? Where would we
have been had the early apostle stayed
at home. in response to the same senti-
ment? l am looking into the faces of
a lot of heathens now. You are all moth
ing more than heathens 10 whom the
word has been brought. Trace back your
ancestry, and you viii discover that they
danced about druid fires. and wOrshiped
strange gods. At home there is one min
lister to every 800 persons. Ia foreign
lands there is one missionary TO every
100000 souls. At this very moment there
comes over the hiltops the last words
of the Saviour, spoken twenty centuries
ago: Go ye into all the world. and
preach the gospel to all creatures.
The speaker drew attention to one Of
the maps which showed the divisions OF
the religious world in the following pro-
portions: Protestant 130, 600 900; Roman
Catholic, 200. 000. 900; Greek and Oriental
churches $4,000 eco: Jews, 3 600 600; Mo-
hammedans, 200 coo 600 and heathens
ss0;~J0,00O. This table, the speaker said,
was misleading, and included millions of
nominal Christians to the credit of their
enumeration, and he also believed was
even otherwise much overestimated in ia
vor of the Christian religions. COntinu-
ing he said:
And this is all that has been accom- |
plished In nineteen centuries toward the /
evangeiizing OF the world At the same |
rate, 1t will require 7.i40 years to make all /
the world even nominal Christians Our /
responsibility rests greatly upon the OPP
portunity presented to us. Francis Xavier, /
arriving at the then impenetrable coast /
OF China. which he was not permitted to /
pass with the purpose of spreading the |
gospel. said: Rock rock, rock. When |
wilt thou open And today. not one part /
of China but is open to the evangelist
The whole world today is open to the .
spread of the gospel. There is but one
place in the world where admission is de-
MED the evangelist by prohibitive legis-
lation, Tibet. All the rest OF the world
is open.
what is the attitude of the churches.
as a whole. TO foreign missions? They are
only playing with the work OF the : 476
Presbyterian churches. more than one
quarter. or l .745. gave not single penny
to the work Two-ifths OF the Congre-
gatiOnal churches failed to assist Five
eighths Of the Baptist churches of the
West forgot the work six years ago. or
the Methodists, out of the 20, 900 churches.
there were only 61S who did not contribute.
There is reason why the Methodist church
conferences of the church. every minister
is required to report the sum collected
from his congregation for foreign mis-
sions. Many OF the contributions were but
one or two dollars from a church. and
suspect that this amount was often con-
tributed solely by the minister and moth
ing by his flock. The CONGREGATIONAL
Church is the largest contributor to the
fund, per capita. The Presbyterian Church
comes next, and the Methodist Church con-
tributes about forty-fve cents per capita
Some Of the church contribute about six
or eight cents per capita
'Ninetenths OF the races Of the world
ran today read the Bible in their own
language. with the exception Of one lit
tie strip Of land the east coast of Africa |
from Egypt to the Cape, is English pos
session. Do you think that God has given |
this territory to England for the glory OF
Great Britain, or that every Englishman
may become rich? No, but because. wher-
ever the British flag has been planted. the
evangelist may follow
There are signs OF the times which in
iicate our responsibility and note that
he time for the end OF our work is grow
ng short. The Salvation Army. | take Is
such a sign. The desire Of the Jews TO
return to Jerusalem IS likewise a sign
IN seventeen centuries. this is the first
line that any effort to return to Palestine
las been manifested by the race Within
he countries nominallv Christian the
hydra headed monsters of Buddhism end q
Science are lifting their heads" :
Pslpitstion Of the heart. nervousness. trem-
liz