, 1912-01-25

Never before have l seen so cosmo-
politan a city as Singapore. The
swarms of Chinese, Malays, Hindoos.
~Javanese. Siamese. ~Singhalese, Bur
mese, Afghans, Madrassi. Tamils and
many other n%ationalities are here in
terspersed by representatives Of prac-
tically every nation in the world.
The sight of these commingled peo-
pies. only a few of whom know Of,
worship, or in any wise acknowledge
"the Only True God. and Jesus Christ
whom He hath sent" stirs my heart,
and my head as well.
We recognize the clear statements
of the Apostle that without faith it
is impossible to please God Hebrews
XII. 6): and How shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heardT
(Ronans X, Ia and also the commits
sion: This Gospel of the Kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for
a witness"
Tried and Found Wanting.
A considerable class of very good
people by their creeds tell us that If
God had foreordained the heather to
salvation He would have seen to II
that the Gospel was preached to
them: and that their not hearing the
Gospel signifies that God passed them
by" as "non-elect:" that the elect" are
to be found only amongst those who
have been favored of God and who ac-
cept that favor and are "sanctiied."
Another class of people by their
creeds. which no longer truly repre-
sent them, tell us that they believe as
above. only that they add another con
dition, namely, that the elect" in or
der to be Of the elect" must be
brought to a knowledge OF water bap-
tism-complete immersion-aud must
obey this teaching.
Another theory held denies that
there is election and denies that
any quantity OF water is necessary.
although 1t does recommend q little.
This theory declares Gods love for the
heather. but says that He made faith
in Jesus sacrificial death a condition
of salvation and that the responsibility
for the heathen's not knowing. and
consequently their going to eternal
torment. rests with Christians them
selves. They say that God did His
part in providing the Savior. and that
the carrying of this knowledge is
wholly dependent upon Christians.
One would think that with this view
few Christians would be able to sleep
a single night.
Some dear people, holding the views
last mentioned, have started a Men
and Religion Forward Movement"
They propose to use about tive million
dollars in starting the movement and
thereby to collect a fund of thirty mil
lion dollars (siX million pounds,
Dear people! How l love them for
their zeal. even though 1t be as the
Apostle said. mot according to knowl-
edge" tRomans K. ~ II they could
stand in S~ingapore's streets and jour
ney with us a little the eyes of their
understanding would be opened. They
would begin to figure out that the sum
they expect to spend In converting the
world would be little over half a pen
ny per soul! The United States Gov
eminent statistics show that a CEN
fury ago the numbers OF heather were
six hundred millions and that today
h number is double.
A Better Hope Found.
Some, repudiating the creeds Of the
past as no longer tenable, fault the
Bible with being the basis for those
creeds and abandon 1t with the creeds.
Let us, on the contrary, declare that
the difficulty with the creeds OF the
past has been that they divided I'D the
Word of God amongst them. and that