**And they that be wlae ahall ahlne as the brightness of the firmament;
and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever.”
®l|i? Sfnretgn mission llouraal.
Entered at the Post-Offlce at Richmond, Va., as Second-Class Matter.
- -
Vol. LX I JULY, 1910. No. 1.
OPEN
Puul in writing to the Corinthians
said, “For a great door and effectual is
opened unto me, and there are many ad¬
versaries." I Cor. 1G.9. Also in Cor. 2:12,
he says, “A door was opened unto me of
the Lord." This great preacher realized
and acknowledged that God had opened
doors to him to go inwlth his gospel mes¬
sage. What God did for Paul centuries
ago, ho has done for us in a marvelous
way. The world was never so open as
it is now for the gospel preacher. In lands
of heathen darkness and sin, where su¬
perstition and Iniquity have long held
sway, God is blessing the labors of his
servants. In the great nations of China,
India, Japan, Korea, in fact,, in the whole
Continent of Asia with that of Africa and
South America, the doors are thrown open
to us today. Even in North America and
Europe the opportunities for preaching
Christ are marvelous. The world is in
a state of flux. Changes are going on
rapidly. Where superstition and sin had
fastened themselves upon the people, we
see that there has come a restlessness
and a throwing off of the old yoke of evil.
Marvelous have been the changes in
China in the last ten years. This great¬
est mission field of earth is thrown open
today, and if we had no other mission
field In which to work, this of itself would
be enough to stir the hearts of all lovers
of God. Here 420,000,000 people are wait¬
ing. They have become awakened from
their long sleep, and are now in a condi¬
tion to receive a message. The revival in
Korea has stirred the hearts of God’s
people. What is the duty of the churches
of God at such a time as this? No one
DOORS
can doubt that there is indeed a great
сЛюг
and effectual opened unto us. We
need the whole strength of our churches,
men and women, boys and girls, to en¬
list under the banner for a great advance
movement. When one joints the church
it should mean that he is committed
thoroughly to the Saviour to help take
this world for Him, but alas,, many of our
churches have not laid emphasis on this
important truth. They have gone along
indifferent and negligent, letting scores
of their members neglect the resurrection
commission of our Lord. When he arose
from the dead, the greatest victor this
world has ever seen, he told hi* disci¬
ples, “As the Father has sent me, even so
send I you.” His last parting words to
His disciples as He went up to heaven,
were that they would be witnesses unto
Him to the uttermost part of the earth.
His coming back and appearing to Paul
was to call a foreign missionary indeed.
The command has been to the people of
the Lord ever since our Saviour was here
on the earth. In many directions the
way seemed barred, but God in His prov¬
idence has now opened the doors. Prej¬
udice has been overcome to a great ex¬
tent. Hearts are needing the message
now. What will we do?
It is tru(e that today as when -Paul
wrote, there are many adversaries. We
need not expect to go In and find the
people who have long been held in the
bondage of sin ready to turn to the gos¬
pel message. The whole fabric of society
and government has been interwoven,
warp and woof,, .with the teachings of
Satan. Customs and usages for genera-
