The Missionary Generation
By Allen Moon
DURING the Dark Ages the heathen nations remained closed to Christian missionaries. Owing to the corrupted form of Christianity then being taught and practised, the time had not come for it to go to all nations. The Reformation came to the so-called Christian nations, and for a time the work of purification went on, also the exposure of the rubbish of false doctrines substituted for the truth by the leaders of the Christian church. The revelation of truth continued through the efforts of godly men until the time came for the Bible, which now began to be printed in many languages, to go to all the world. The Saviour, in conversation with his disciples, told them that some great signs would mark the beginning of the work of giving the gospel of the kingdom to all the world. He mentioned a great earthquake, the darkening of the sun and moon, the falling of the stars, wars of nations, and told them that the generation that saw these signs would also witness the preaching of the gospel to the heathen. These signs began to appear toward the close of the eighteenth century, and continued into the nineteenth century. In addition to the signs referred to, it would be the most natural thing in the world to look for other indications that God and the heavenly host were moving not only the heavens, but the earth also, for the accomplishment of the work for this generation. Let us for a moment view what God has wrought on the earth. When Carey entered India at the very beginning of the nineteenth century, he met with great opposition. Up to that time India had successfully resisted all missionary effort on the part of Christians. The time had come for the decreed change, and in 1812 Carey baptized his first converts, and by the end of 1817 he had many native preachers in the field. The work spread rapidly. Bishop Thorburn, who spent thirty years in India, in writing of the period already referred to, says: “The organization of the London Missionary Society followed, and in many places, both in England and in Scotland, an intense interest was manifested in the new enterprise. The missionary era had been fairly ushered in.” It is recorded of the cobbler Carey that the greatest work of his life was the arousing of the missionary spirit among the Christian people of Europe, which resulted in rallying the people to the support of missionary effort. Thus it was at the opening of the missionary generation. To-day India is open to receive the gospel. More than one hundred and fifty thousand of the people of India have the Bible, and profess faith in the Christian religion. Africa was very little known until Livingstone began his explorations in 1843. The millions that peopled that continent were in total ignorance of the existence of the Bible, but now are being taught the word. The language is the principal obstacle, aside from the hardships of life in the wilderness. In Egypt the gospel may be taught as freely as in England or America, although only a few short years ago the entrance of the gospel was forcibly resisted. We might speak of China and Japan, the center of interest for all the world at the present time. Centuries ago the Chinese were not averse to foreign intercourse, but owing to the doubtful course pursued by the Spanish and other European people, as well as Catholic missionaries, nearly all foreign intercourse was cut off, and it was not until the nineteenth century that a change came. China to-day is ready for the gospel, and the missionary has already penetrated almost every part of that land peopled by more than four hundred millions of inhabitants. Japan was the most exclusive of nations, the laws prohibiting any intercourse of its people with the world. This condition continued from 1624 until the treaty with the United States in 1853. Since that time Japan has welcomed the Christian religion almost as freely as Western civilization. Through the conflict of nations and political evolution, God has wrought the preparation of the world for the great last-day work,—a preparation that only God could bring out of conditions existing three quarters of a century ago; and besides all this, in the same period, the railroads and steamship lines were built, penetrating the very heart of these dark lands, and bringing them as it were to our doors. Printing in almost every language and dialect proves a very great aid in the work of enlightening the dark corners of the world. We are in the last end of the missionary generation. Will God’s people embrace the opportunities provided by divine power, and use the facilities within their reach?