Evening star., 1918-08-24
BY REV. HUGH t. STEVENSON.

Christian testimony was the method
chosen by the Lord with which to
conquer the world. Other men have
attempted to become masters of the
world through force. but Jesus de-
termined that He would succeed
where others had failed by seeking to
win the hearts of men through the
proclamation of the good news"
concerning the love of God, which He
revealed in His life, lessons and
labor. Christ knew that His plan
called for the work of millions OF
men cooperating through the CEN
turtles. He recognized that His fol-
lowers would require faith to remove
the peril of fear that would. unless
checked, paralyze their power and
prevent their testifying to the good
ness of God" The selection chosen
from Luke reveals how the Master
was trying to fortify the minds OF
His followers, so that they would
not fail to preach His gospel to all
men.
He encouraged them. by His mes.
sage concerning the watchcare OF
God, to expect that God would pro-
tect them in the hours of danger and
trial The man who has faith IN the
providential and powerful protection
of God will be Indifferent to the OPP
position of men to his faith. He will
prove the vitality of his religious ex-
perience by publicly confessing Christ
before men. and will seek to conform
his life to the will of the Lord Jesus.
The confession that is demanded OF
the Christian is more than that OF
the mouth, for the Master calls for
of Solf rrifira Self-denlaI ana
service for His glory. Jesus assures
all who publicly acknowledge Him OF
their safety, because He promises 10
acknowledge them. Safety comes from
awaits the denier of Christ, for he
shall be denied. Jesus does not say
that He will deny those who deny
Him, because their own self-concem-
nation will be sufficient testimony:
The missionary records are fuli OF
messengers of the gospel. who like
Xavier, Chalmers, Patton, Judson and
Others, have by their lives and les
sons boldly proclaimed the gospel
There are two ways of DENYING
Christ. One marked by a definite
open antogonism. the other an as
sumption of line of conduct that om1ts
God from ones consideration. Jesus
knew that the hour would come when
Nsome of his personal followers
would deny Him and in the bitter re-
action of repentance would Tear that
they could not find forgiveness. 1t
was for them that He spoke the
soul concerning the unpardonable
sin. Jesus assured them that they
might after speaking against Him,
even despising and rejecting HIM. ma
forgiveness if they sought it in a
repentant spirit. When Christ spoke
III n q
IDENTIFY had in mind the charge that
the Pharisees had made that Jesus
was performing His miracles by the
power of Satan. They had made TINS
malicious accusation while they mad
conclusive evidence that Jesus per-
formed His miracles by the finger or
power of God. Christ evidently
taught that it was impossible for
the Pharisees to be forgiven because
they had rejected the. Holy Spirit.
the only person who could lead them
into the light. Their attitude toward
Jesus show ed that they were beyond
the reach of forgiveness because they
were out of harmony with Gods
Word and way. hey lost their oa-
portunity of being saved because
fhey had rejected the Revealer and
refused to heed the revelations OF
light. The soul that is perplexed
about the objectionable sin is not apt
to commit it.
Jesus knew that his disciples would
be compelled to face bitter persecu-
tion through their loyalty and fidelity
to Him. He urged them not to fear
when they were summoned before the
civil courts concerning their de-
fense, but to put their faith in
the them in'y in the si hour Of W trial and direct
them in the path of duty. Jesus did
not promise that they would not
fail, for He knew the weakness and
wickedness of the flesh. The soul
which in trying hours looks unto
Jesus will come to learn that HIS
the Christian ages records how
admidst all sorts of tests, many OF
them new and unexpected, the hum
BILE disciple who had trusted to the
power of the Holy Spirit to make ef-
fective his message has invariably
and humanity. Americas power in
this hour is due to the, leadership OF
the Holy Spirit.
Foch knew that he had to wait
until the American expeditionary
force arrived with SUFFICIENT power to
assure him success. Jesus warned His
disciples that they should wait until
they were endowed with power from
on high to carry out His worldwide
program. During the forty days that
resurrection and His ascension Jesus
Instructed His disciples concerning
the kingdom of God" so that He
might continue to do and testify
through them and their successors
during the coming centuries. Before
attempting this gigantic task He
commanded them to wait for the
promised power from on high. The
advent Of the Holy Spirit at Pente-
cost changed the. small number of
weak and hopeless disciples into a