THE SUPERNATURAL FACTOR IN MISSIONS.
By Dr. A. T. Pierson
ELIMINATE God from missions and you have nothing left but a human enterprise; all the grandeur and glory are gone; for the one supreme charm and fascination of this work is that, in idea and plan, in origin and progress, it is divine. Nothing is more noticeable than the peculiar emphasis laid upon the supernatural factor in world-wide missions throughout the Scripture. . . . As the prophets and the teachers in the Antiochan church were leading the church in holy ministration and fasting, the Holy Ghost said, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." This is the first step in organized foreign missions. Let us remember that the initial foreign mission tour was undertaken at the special command of the Holy Spirit. However, the church may have separated these two original foreign missionaries and sent them forth, they are expressly declared to have been separated and sent forth by the Holy Ghost. Here, then, is the supernatural factor as the basis of mission work. The Holy Spirit calls, separates, sends forth the workers; God opens the door of access to the nations, and then opens the door of their hearts to faith. He bears them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost,12and purifying their hearts; and, in a word, the whole story of this mission tour is one of miracles and wonders which God has wrought. "They went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following." That short history is the perpetual type and prophecy of world-wide missions.—Dr. A. T. Pierson.