Evening star., 1911-01-29

raising the world 50 that goodness and
kindness are pursued by some who do
not call themselves the disciples OF Christ.
But If the Man OF Nazareth, who is the
King of Kings, has thus made men fol-,
low His life. then He surely has not
failed. We can thank God for all the
advance which has been made and for the
good lives men are seeking to live, even
though they are outside of the church.
and We can with fair reason tell them
whence their excellence comes. But, aside
from this. people of every land and every
condition are ready to hear the old story
of Calvary and to find comfort in the re-
demption of the Christ who died and rose
again Whether in great cathedral or in
some "lowly thatched cottage" whether
from the lips of gifted preacher or from
the earnest Salvation Army captain who
gathers the outcasts of the street, the
gospel message Is eagerly welcomed II
spoken truly and with faith
And this is our joy when we think of
missions, particularly home missions"
III for moment We believed that in Bos-
ton or New York rich and wise men and
women had no need of Christ and would
not hear the message Of the cross we
might indeed lose heart But it is not so.
From Maine to Maryland, from Canada
TO Virginia, Christianity is working and
saving men. God is using humble instru-
ments-Weak men and consecrated wom-
en-, In city and country-to help spread
His kingdom. and wherever we go we find
the fruits of their toll. the harvest re-
suiting from. their planting. OF course,
we are not doing ali that we ought to do.
OF course. we are neglecting great op-
Portunitfes for service. Hence the need
or our lesson of today. But we must not
be discourag ged because some magazine
writer or some newspaper critic cries out
tnat Christianity is dead. He might as
We'll cry out that the end OF the world
is coming in twenty-four hours; some few
weak and fearful souls would drop their
work and look UP to the sky for strange
signs, but the great body of men would
keep on toiling and loving and doing their
duty. not because they do not believe In
death or a future life. but because they
feel themselves best prepared for what
ever may come when they are fulfilling
their lives and doing their appointed
tasks. The gospel is still preached and
the church is still seeking to meet her
Masters command in spite of what men
say or think. 1t is Gods work. and He
Upon this rock | will build My church.
and the gates Of hell shall not prevail
against it,
But we must. however sure we are OF
GODS grace, strive with great eagerness
to do more for our King than we have
ever done before. We have a great field,
and this portion of our land of which we
are thinking today has an especial claim
upon us. We are told that in the rural
parts Of New England there is an appall-
away from the faith such as would make
our fathers uneasy in their graves This
Is due, partly, to the turning from the
old forms of religion to new ideas and
fancles. and partly to the coming in of
foreigners who know little and care less
Tor Christianity, and resent all interfer-
ence with what they esteem to be a new
round freedom. The same is true of other
parts OF the north and east Besides all
this. we have many large cities In this
section which are crowded with all kinds
of people. and where economic conditions
are bad. There is terrible amount Of
poverty: housing conditions are worse
than heathenish; manufactures and their
confinlng hours weary the workers and
render them either too tired to think or
care when their days work is done, or
else wild for any kind of excitement
which shall bring forgetfulness of their
trouble. Sin Is bold and enticing, and
the weak are quickly led to ruin. The
church often leaves the positions where
she could do the most good to go to the
location where her supporters live, and
the splendid missions are too few to meet
the demands One often wonders what
Christ would have us do in the face of
these modern conditions-what He HIM
self would do if He were on earth i'm
human form once more. How would He
meet the problems of our cities; how
would He answer the piteous calls of the
thousands scattered all through the rural
districts? Only In finding an answer to
that question can we clearly see our own
duty, and work as we should for the
coming of the kingdom right here in our
midst.