Arizona republican., 1910-02-21


 cross; but in spite of all opposition. l they sowed the seed and taught men the way of salvation. The spirit of missions is the spirit of fidelity It does not make so much difference what we say as it does what we do. Peter said that he would not forsake his Lord. but Peter did forsake his Lord. Some one has said that fidelity means that Christs horizon shall be our horizon, that Christ's thought shall be our thought. Christ has said. I am the light of the world, and the only way we can prove our fidelity is to take the salt that we are and rub it upon the earths awful decay. The spirit of missions is the spirit of fair ness. Don't foget that we are the children of foreign missionary effort. You know the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ this morning because of the influence of foreign missions upon your ancestors. There are millions and millions today who are anxious to kneel before the worlds Redeemer and who have just as good a right as you and I to know Him. Why not tell them. that they may be lifted up? There are millions today. dying one every moment. and you are not telling them. Why don't you tell them? The spirit of missions is the spirit of fair ness.
 The spirit of missions, how? How can you and l come into possession of the spirit of missions? It is a very easy question to answer and I can give the answer confidently. The an swer is. 'k-n-o-w wl-ed-g-e. knOwl- edge Knowledge of the facts, the conditions, the possibilities. Men act according to Knowledge Within fifty years the opinions of people of the east have changed entirely regarding the west--they have learned Within the last few years there has spread over the country one of the greatest temperance movements that the world has ever seen. The explanation for il is simply knowledge. When man knows. he. as reasonable being. acts according to his knowledge. What are some of the facts? over wonder in China there are in easy reach millions and millions of tons of coal: they will not mine the coal. though hundreds of them die of cold. Why? Simply be- cause they are afraid they will wake up the old dragon and he will shake himself and make an earthquake. or snort and make a cyclone. They don't ' know. If we knew of these conditions a little more. l am sure that We would | be concerned.
 The work of foreign missions has 1 been a success. hundred years ago ! there were less than a score of mis- sionaries and the converts on the mis- i sion fields were less than a thousand ! Now we have five thousand stations. {. fifteen thousand outStations. thirteen 1 thousand ordained missionaries. sixty {. three thousand native helpers. and We are numbering our converts by the 1 millions. Foreign missions have been l a success from the very first Don't | doubt it
 Our giving is most paltry in com ! parison with our giving to other | things We bestow upon education each year billion nine hundred mil lions of dollars; for woolen goods. two hundred fifty millions a year: for to- bacco. six hundred and fifty millions year: for intoxicating drinks. a bil- lion three hundred millions a year; and for the work of carrying the gos- pei, we are laying. as the church of God. upon Gods altar the paltry sum Of twenty-two millions a year
 Now is the time to obey the com mand of the Master if ever the time was. It is possible for us to be penny wise and pound foolish in reference to missions. There has never been d time when a little leaven might as certainly leaven the whole lump. There are cries in the affairs of men and nations and we are passing a world crisis now. Some one has said that Japan rules the world today. In her schools are twenty thousand students from China. These students will make new China. Save Japan. and you save China: Chritianize Japan. and you ChristianiZe China. Japan is leading the orient, but whither? It is leading the Orient. and it is in some measure leading the Occident A few years ago Germany sent a company of 1 men to Japan to study her methods of warfare. Think of old Germany with her pride in her army sending to Ja- pan to learn of her. There are more students from India in Japan's univer- sities today than there are in Oxford and Cambridge. A stroke today in China. Japan. or India means more than a million strokes in the future: dollar today means more than q million dollars in the days that are to come
 The secret of our failure is that we forget so soon. IT we could put our ears to the ground and hear the meas ure of the woe of the heather world. simply because they do not know our Christ. our hearts would be stirred. Cod beln nc f. porfalra of tho ,,,fe-ciop