The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1910-03-17
The Mission of Christianity.

when had heard in prison the words of Christ
he two of his disciples and said Him. Thou
that should do we look for anoher Jesus answered
and said unto them Go and show John again those things
which do hear and the blind their sight,
the lame walk the eper cleansed and the deaf the
dead raised and the poor have the gospel preached
them And blessed he Whosoever shall be
me-MATTHEw, XII, rs.
In the above statement of one of the
most touching and suggestive incidents in
the life of Jesus we have His own cencep-
ton of what His mission meant to the
world, as we'll as the recognition that
Johns sinking faith needed no other as
surance to revive it than this showing of
the character of work He was doing so
different from the popular conception of
what the coming of Messiah would mean.
Since John had received at the baptism
of Jesus convincing evidence that He was
in very truth the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world, it is
hardly to be conceived that he subse-
quently doubted the value of that evil
dence, but to the contrary more reason
able assumption would be that, broken in
spirit by his long confinement in prison,
he simply craved some comforting message
from the Master, that assurance of SYM
pathy which has so often lighted up the
gloomy prison cell, to cheer him up and
fortify him for the further endurance of his
hard lot. The value of such sympathy is
specifically emphasized in the command to
''visit the sick and in prison.
In the evidences above enumerated, We
have, then, the mission of Christianity, for
the Master Himself says, s'Verily, verify, I
say unto you, he that believeth in Me, the
works that | do shall he do also, and
greater works than these shall he do,
because go unto My Father. And what
soever We shall ask in My name, that will
do, that the Father may be glorified in
the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My
name, will do it,"
Isn't this promise broad enough to in
spire in the hearts of all true believers the
character of work, the mere enumeration
of which Christ considered was all that was
needed to revive the dropping spirits and
light up the prison cell of the messenger
who had gone before and prepared the
way for His coming?
These things are being done in the world
day to limited extent, as we have the
evidence in the various charitable institu-
tons, and other agencies for ministering
to the necessities of the poor, and the sick,
and the unfortunate, scattered throughout
the land, as we'll as in the numerous in
stances of aid privately bestowed, but
when We read that human beings, at their
own suggestion, are being sold into slavery
to the highest bidder at the doorsteps OF
| fashionable churches, with ministers Of the
gospel as auctioneers, in order that they
may obtain enough of the necessities OF
life to protract their miserable existence a
| few years, are we quite sure that we have
the right to claim this as being a Christian
land? While We may not condemn the
zeal of those ministers who have taken this
method of relieving distress in their midst,
and of emphasizing the need for Christian
effort to remedy such conditions, what ex-
cuse have we to offer for the wealthy
occupants of the pew who know of these
things and yet ignore them who dole on,
their charity upon the principle that the
applicant must be worthy as well as
needy?
s'The poor have the gospel preached te
/ them" Are we quite sure the gospel il
being preached to the poor of this day
and time in the meaning of the words o.
Christ's message to John? The gospe
means ssgood news''-how often is the
good news borne into the haunts of -pov.
erty, and in what form To these little
ones,' the object of the Fathers tenderes
solicitude, there are sometimes more swee
messages in one sack of flour than in {
thousand tracts.-Houston Ieras) Post
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