The Washington times., 1913-04-26


In the Revelation of 81. John IN,
Divine We read BLESSED Is he thai
readeth. and they that hear the words
of this prophecy. and keep those things
which arc written therein: for the time
IL az hand and almost at the beginn-
Ing OF the revelation of the Apostle
John We find as so1ne of the str kine
words of this prophecy" which must
be needed because ''the time Is at hand
these words; ''Grace be unto you. and
peace, from Him which IL, and which
was. ard which Is to come:
from Jesus Christ. who Is the
prince of the kings of the earth. Unto
Him that loved US. and washed US from
our sins in His own blood. to
Him be glory and diIninion for ever and
ever. Behold. He eometh in
clouds. and every eye shall see Him, and
they also which pierced HIM
am Alpha and Omega. the begfnnins
and the ending. saith the Lord, which
II. and which Vas, and which Is t.
ccme. the Almighty
How to spread quickly and thoroughly
this great revelation of Him that was,
and Is. 1.-The Alpha and Omega, the be-
ginning and the ending-the Almighty
to the uttermost ends of the earth. and.
indeed. how to bring about the realiza-
ton Of the omnipotence of God and the
saving power Of His Son. Jesus Christ.
to the hearts of those who are neigh
bors at home, has been. and still Is.
the greatest problem confronting the
Church Of Christ. We hear Z great
deal nowadays about 1.-THE proper sphere
ofthe church." namely. that the church
should engage upon social uplift and
organized charity work. political and
economic activity. etc. And, while We
do not deny that the church PLAYS a
large part in solving the domestic and
economic and political problems of the
day. and, properly so. and while We
believe thoroughly that the church Is,
indeed. the greatest friend Of the labor
ing man in his struggles to secure fair
wages and reasonable hours, the best
friend of the outcasts among humanity,
who want food and warmth. and work.
the loyal ally of the municipality or the
State that desires to purge it's political
fabric of stains and blots. and to place
in office men Of integrity. and courage.
and strength, who will conduct public
affairs honestly and without fear or fa-
vor-while all these things are true.
still in the final analysis and underly-
ing all her varied activities, the real
work Of the church. upon which her
foundations were laid. and upon which
her entire superstructure has been erec-
ted, was and still Is. the salvation of
men: the winning of souls into the king
dom Of Jesus Christ This Is the great
work of the church, and constitutes her
cfliefest problem and anxiety.
Thus the church Is a missionary in
stitution, and finds herself in the twen-
tieth century with history of glorious
service for the Master in the long GEN.
turtles that have passed between the
time when he was on earth md our
present day. And yet with the realiza-
ton that tremendous things are yet to
be done. that heather nations are to
be made to love God. and that men
everywhere shall be led into giving
their hearts and lives into Christian
service. that millions are yet without
the fold. the church hears today the
command Of the Master to Peter:
Lowest thou me? Feed my sheep"
Ii Is not within the province Of our
topic to discuss the large results Of
missionary activity during the last
decade: that has been the subject of
a previous article on this page. II IT,,
rather, the purpose of the topic at hand
to show the need for the Word of God
in missionary work, whether in our
own land or in foreign lands. Indeed,
the Bible has well been called the
origin OF modern missions" 1t was in
response to the injunction of the Mas
ter that the earliest missionaries of the