Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-06-09

! full of the knowledge of the Lord
! as the waters cover the sea-" Isaiah
ll:s.
1t is not the business of the church
| to make the world Christian" for
which the title of our lesson calls.
The whole world lieth in the evil
one;" IF any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him" Il
| John, 5:19 and 2:15.) The world is es-
sentially evil and cannot be other
wise.
On the other hand it is the supreme
| business of the church to give the
| Christian message to the whole world
for God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that
Whosoever belieVeth on Him should
not perish" with the world; and that
Sons last message to His followers
world for it was, 60 we into all the
world and preach the gospel to every
| creature. Not one part was to be
omitted for just before He ascended
| He made it very explicit that how
and where they were to do this-to
| be witnesses unto Him "in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea, and in Samar1a,
and unto the uttermost parts of the
earth"
Quite often this distinction has not
| been seen, and many fruitless efforts
! have been expended, workers diScour-
aged and worn out, and an oppor-
| tunity given for scoffers to gloat
| over the failure of Christianity.
A story is told of a Watchmaker
who enlisted as soldier in the civil
war. He took along his tools with
| him and made quite a bit at odd mo-
ments in repairing watches OF his
| fellow soldiers. One morning the
| order came to advance against the
enemy In dismay he said to fellow
| soldier, II cannot possibly go. have
to1o T h0T
Saturday night The chief bust
ness of the church is witness bearing
| to the whole world, and many of its
| members are too busy with theF
| own business to advance when the
order comes or are too busy mend-
| ing the worlds machinery that is out
| Of order that the chief business can
not be done.
And what las been the result? To
! day, nearly two thousand years AIT
er our Lord gave His command, more
| than two-thirds of the world has neY-
| er heard His blessed name, the only
name in which there is salvation; His
| body, the church, is incomplete, and
He as the Head is not able to eX-
| press His life and His love for the
| world because an arr or hand or
| a foot is not there for His use. His
bride, the church, has not made her
self ready, and He, the anxious bride
| groom, waits for the wedding day.
| NOT only SO, DuI UcCduSS VI LIS
| continued absence, justice is perVert-
| ed, and unrighteousness rules. In
| lands where He is not known, Wom-
an is a chattel, to be bought or sold;
a slave to be treated as her Iord
| wills; ignorance prevails largely, and
| people suffer the consequence: There
| are not hospitals for the sick, nor
| retreats for the mentally disabled;
| there are no schools worthy OF the
name, and the home is an unknown
word. 40 d.
| cause we cannot make the world
| Christian, shall we fail to give the
| Christian message to the world! NO,
a thousand times No! There are two
| things to encourage us to do our
definite promise of power for the the
service, and His declaration that In
| that day" the task of making him
| known will be accomplished. e
| shall receive power after that the
| Holy Ghost is come unto you, and
We Shall be witnesses unto me, both
| in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, ana
| in Samaria, and unto the uttermost
part of the earth" (Acts 1873; and
''the earth shall be full of the knoWl-
edge of the Lord as the waters cover
| the sea-" Osaiah 11:9) He has sup
piled the power of the task, has de-
| fined the task, and has declared that
the task will be accomplished.
The Power Supply
What a hopeless spirit would NIL
us if we had to undertake the task
before us alone! There are 1,6OO,OOO,-
| 600 people in the world; they are
scattered in all parts of the world;
they think differently because their
surroundings have been different
from ours; they speak over thou
sand different languages; they are
suspicious of strangers; they do not
realize their need; they have no
| knowledge of God or of His word.
But we do not have to convince
them. God has given His spirit for
this very purpose. God has given
| His Spirit to every believer, in order
| to empower them so that they may
bear witness to the saving power of
Jesus Christ.
Now some do not appreciate this,
and are praying for the baptism of
the Holy Spirit. If you are be
lever you have the Holy Spirit al
ready. He it is who teaches you to
! cry Abba Father; He it is who bears
witness with your spirit that you
are a child of God; He it is who
makes you love Jesus Christ. 1t is
His business to illumine the teaching
and to make real in your life the per-