Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24

| demand. They. however, inspected the
| building most thoroughly and found. to the
dismay Of the missionaries 2 picture 81 81
| confscating 1t and making the missionaries
| trouble, the men seemed much interested In
| 1t and asked all about 1t, who were the
| two crucifed on either side why Jesus was
| crucified. what brought Him into the world.
I and why Christians worshiped Him. This
| was the first Christian sermon ever preach
| ed by an American missionary to Japa-
| nese audience. 1t Is now twenty years
| since great change came about In that
! land. According to Robert Speer Chris
! tan literature was in immense demand,
missionary meetings We're crowded. great
REVEALS broke out, the missionaries were
| thronged. Great churches grew up, as In
kochi, where the people hung on the mis-
! sfonary and expected DR.. Know to know
| everything from theology to the methods
| OF steel manufacture. 1t was not an UNI
| real movement, however. In some meet
! ings the sense of sin was SO keen that the
| people cried out with tears, so that the
non-Christians said, The Christians chas-
| tise their church members cruelty The
| converts grew by thousands.
Truly when we look at Japan today, and
hear the echo of the Christmas bells from
| their shores also, we repeat with awe and
wonder the opening words of our text:
| THE people that walked in darkness have
seen great light" And Japan stands not
| alone in keeping Christmas with US today.
Among the foreign missionary lands if we
! might listen we would hear chime after
chime of Christmas bells, ringing in the
| message Peace on earth, good will to
men,. Send a few of your old Christmas
| cards or dainty, interesting book to some
missionary this week as a Christmas gift
and ask him to tell you what Christmas
means to the land where he Is teaching
christ, and you VIII see. 1t will be a
Christmas act for you personally or your
society to do this. The missionaries in
| those foreign countries treasure everything
that comes to them from home Espe-
cially do they miss and long for literature,
DOCKS, ma gaines, papers. Send few by
mail and see with what gratitude they are
received This, by the way, as a hint for
you to make some missonary'S Christmas
brighter. The Christmas cards will be used
in their Sunday schools with native Bible
verses written in the native tongue upon
them.
You remember in st. Francis sermon to
the birds how after he had recalled to
them how God cares for them-feeding
ana clothing them and putting them into
this beautiful world-and had beSought
them to praise Him in consequence of all
His mercies. that they arose in one flock
at the close of the sermon, and when they
were poised high in the air they separated
into four f1ocks and formed the sign of the
cross in the heavens. Then they flew forth
singing Gods praise into the four quarters
of the earth, the one to the east, another to
the west, the third to the north, the fourth
to the SOUTH and so the whole earth was
circled and filled with Gods praise
Just so have our missionaries gone forth
to the four quarters of the earth with
their message of praise Of what God has
done for them, and day by day are the in
| habitants of the earth learning to call His
name wonderful Counsellor! The Mighty
Godr
Surely we may believe that the Scripture
is about to be fulfilled, and that the whole
earth shall be filled with the knowledge
of the glory of the Lord as the waters
cover the sea-, and of the increase of His
government there shall be no end
Applied Truth.
There is a beautiful story of an aged
artist who sat looking at the completed pic
ture upon which he had worked for months,
and as he gazed he fell asleep. The picture
was of the visit of the three wise men to
the infant Messiah. Through the open win
dow the little village of Bethlehem could
be seen, and the faces of the baby, the
mother and the three wise men presenting
their gifts to the little king Of the earth
were wonderful studies. AS the artist fell
asleep he thought he was still at work
upon the picture, and the smile of heaven
was upon him. A throng of angels had en-
tered the locked studio in some way, and
as he worked he felt that his hand was
guided by an unseen hand. He felt that the
whole universe was interested In TINS pic
ture that he was painting and that 1t was
for the glory of God and not of men that 1t
was being painted. When he thought he
had finished the picture and laid his brushes
it away, yet though he had worked long
upon it he offered no opposition to this,
but felt satisfied. Then he seemed to be In
a grand salon built especially for the pur-
pose and handsomely furnished.
His picture in a massive frame, set with
gems hung upon the wall. and easy chairs
set to command the best view stood at
hand Then the doors were flung open and
a voice exclaimed: Unto Him every knee
shall bow" And there entered representa-
tives of every nation upon the earth and
stood and bowed before the newborn king.
Men came and threw away all their philo-
sophical reasonings, their disbeliefs and
their differences and bowed low presenting
gifts with the wise men, and when all had
entered the artist thought he heard them
sing:
Jesus shall reign whereer the
Doth his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to Shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more
The singing awoke him, and he found that
| it was Christmas morning and a party of
| carolers beneath his window were singing.
| A ray of sunlight on the picture before him
| shed halo of glory around the baby head
| of Jesue.
How to Help the Leader.
Pray that you may be able to carry the
| light of the world into places that yet are
| dark. To do this you must let nothing dim
| the light in your own heart.
| Parallel passa ges-Psalms, 27:1; Psalms,
| SAIL; Micah, rs; Isaiah, col; John, SIP;
| John, 9:5; John. 10; John, 3:19; John. 1:5.
| Hints to the leader-Christian Endeavor
| Hymns 10. Al, 81, 50, 50, 1O7, 1872. The En-
| deavor Hymnal, 1S5. 23O, 231 235, 237.
If you have artist in your membership
| get him to draw upon the blackboard the
| rising behind the mountains, touching
| the earth with warmth. This will be a
| good heading for your topic and reference,
| and will serve as an inspiration during the
meeting. Have some to represent
every missionary land. and let each speak
| just a few words contrasting the difference
| Christmas has made in these countries.
Do not forget to pray for missions and to
| take up special collection as a Christmas
| gift to Christ-this for missions