The TRIUMPHS of the CROSS
By Arthur G. Daniells
The Bold Declarations of One Who, Nineteen Hundred Years Ago, Was Buried in a Borrowed Tomb, Are Coming True To-Day
ONE of the great outstanding facts of all Biblical prophecy is the triumph of the gospel throughout the world. From first to last, the gospel is set forth as a world movement—"world-wide in its adaptation, its intention, and its power." That same Lord and Creator who "made the world and all things therein," and who "made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth" (Acts 17:24, 26), so loved that world, "that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. The gospel is God's message of love and salvation (Rom. 1:16) for all nations that "dwell on all the face of the earth." Thus God is our "King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth." Ps. 74:12. Describing the far-reaching extent of Christ's life, and death, and ministry for men, the prophet Isaiah said: "It is a light thing that thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the gentiles [heathen], that thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth." Isa. 49:6. And Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, declares that "from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same" the name of Christ would be "great among the gentiles." Mal. 1:11. DURING His life on earth, Christ was not a great traveler. He confined His journeys and labors to the little land of Palestine. But He boldly declared that the message He there proclaimed would eventually go to the ends of the earth. He said: "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matt. 24:14. What a daring prediction! Jesus stood almost alone in the world. He was not recognized by any of the world's great and influential leaders. The Roman government was against Him. His own nation had rejected Him. His followers were few, and of the most common sort. He had been born in the stable of a hotel. During His public ministry, He was so poor that He had no home, and He made no provision for food. When not entertained by others, He slept in the open, and gathered such fruits and grains from the land as the customs of the times permitted. He knew that He was to be crucified with criminals, and to be buried in a borrowed tomb. But notwithstanding all these untoward conditions, and in the face of them all, He calmly, confidently, boldly declared to all men, through all time, that His message would yet be proclaimed to all the people of the world. The movement He had set on foot would, He gave assurance, spread over the face of the earth, and take permanent root, and bear glorious fruit in every nation. How wonderfully the centuries have worked out the forecast of this lone Man of Galilee! His message is at this hour the most general and powerful message in the world. The Best Seller in the World
THE Bible is Christ's message in written form, and to-day it is in greater demand than at any previous time in its centuries of existence. For a hundred years, the Bible societies have been printing and circulating great numbers of this book. The average yearly circulation of the Bible and portions thereof at the present time is more than fifteen millions of copies. It is now printed in over five hundred languages and dialects. The American Bible Society, in its annual report for 1913, declared that the requests which came to the society during that year for more copies of the Bible were so pressing and insistent as to be in the nature of demands. And this after a hundred years of great activity, during which this one society distributed a hundred million copies and parts of copies of the word of God!354During the same century, the British and Foreign Bible Society has distributed two hundred and twenty-seven million copies. And still it is the best seller in the world. Having survived hundreds of bitter attacks from its enemies, it is now the most potent book in the hands of the human race. Paine's "Age of Reason" and Ingersoll's "Mistakes of Moses" dropped out of the market long ago. They died with their authors, while Christ's book lives in the hearts of men, vitalizing them more wonderfully as the years go by. This marvelous fact is a mighty challenge to every man. All hail the power of Jesus' word! THE circulation of this book of God throughout the world is everywhere accompanied by an awakening and also by an evangelizing movement. This gospel movement for the evangelization of the world is the greatest enterprise engaging the thought and activities of men to-day. It is truly a world movement. In 1910, the Edinburgh Missionary Conference reported that there were 944 missionary organizations carrying on this work. These organizations are supporting 25,000 American and European missionaries in the mission fields of the world. They are also maintaining and directing about 125,000 native workers. This makes an army of 150,000 gospel workers giving their lives to the proclamation of that gospel which Jesus declared would be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations. And these gospel messengers have truly gone into all the world. In the Western Hemisphere, they are proclaiming the name of Christ and His message of salvation all the way from Greenland, Lapland, and Alaska, in North America, to Cape Horn, the most southern point of South America. There is not a place in these western continents to which these heralds of the cross have not gone. The unfilled gaps between stations are there because the mission funds provided in the home land are as yet inadequate to support the laborers required to fill them. The missionary map of Europe, Asia, and Africa shows the same wide distribution of the missionary forces over these great continents. But few important sections remain unentered, and these are countries whose rulers and people refuse to allow the gospel to be proclaimed within their borders. They are Tibet, Afghanistan, and a few places in the Mohammedan sections of northern Africa. THE growth, the power, and the achievements of the cause of foreign missions during the last century are truly marvelous. One hundred years ago, there were only about one hundred missionaries at work in non-Christian lands. These were confined to a very few places. In fact, most of the heathen world was closed against them. Now all but a very few lands are wide open to Christian missionaries. As one writer has said, "God has been shaping and preparing the nations in the interests of a world-wide gospel." One great change that has taken place in the interests of foreign mission conquests has been the transfer of a large proportion of the territory of the world from non-Christian nations to nations favoring Christianity. In 1600, "only seven per cent of the territory of the world was controlled by Christian nations, but to-day eighty-two per cent, so that the growth of Christian control has passed, in three hundred years, from seven to eighty-two per cent, while the control of non-Christian nations has decreased from ninety-three per cent to eighteen per cent." The missionaries in many of these distant lands can appreciate the advantages of this change. The Rule of Protestant Nations
IN connection with this change, there has been a very great gain in the population of the countries that have been open longest to the influences of the gospel. At the opening of the sixteenth century, when Luther was being prepared for his great work, there was not a Protestant nation in the world. Now fully one half of the population of the world is under the rule of Protestant governments. A hundred years ago, "Mohammedan political3and religious control were coextensive. To-day over three fourths of the Mohammedans of the world live in lands which they do not rule politically." There are more millions of people under the rule of Protestant nations to-day than there are under the rule of all the heathen nations combined. There is great significance in this change of population from the control of non-Christian to Protestant nations. It is altogether in favor of the efforts of the Christian church to make Christ known to all men. When Christian missionaries began this work in heathen lands, there were few if any institutions maintained for the betterment and relief of the masses. Education such as there was in a few countries was impractical, and could be obtained by only a few of the most favored. There were no hospitals for the sick, no asylums for the insane, no homes for the blind and the deaf and dumb, and no stations for lepers. During the last century, all these helpful, uplifting institutions have been established in the lands entered by the heralds of the cross. Thousands of educated, skilled, sympathetic men and women are rendering the greatest service, in these institutions, to millions of people in great need. This Christian service is breaking down prejudice, and bringing about marvelous changes in the condition and attitude of the people of these lands. IT is the universal conviction of all men who give the conditions now existing in the mission fields of the world careful study, that a mighty providence has been shaping affairs in these lands for a great spiritual reformation. John R. Mott, who has recently returned from an extended visit to the principal mission fields of the world, says: "God seems to have done a hundred years' work within the last five years. . . . There never has been a time when simultaneously, in so many non-Christian lands, the facts of need and opportunity presented such a remarkable appeal to Christendom as now. . . . From the point of view of the Christian church, the present moment is incomparably the most critical and urgent it has ever known. . . . To delay, by even a half decade, facing the situation and acting upon it comprehensively, would be the most serious mistake which the Christian leaders in this generation could make." Then Mr. Mott asks this significant question: "Why is it that at the very time the Christian forces have more to do than ever at the home base, they are also confronted with an immeasurably greater opportunity abroad than that which has faced any preceding generation?" The answer is plain: This is the generation appointed by the Lord for the triumph of the gospel throughout the world. This is the generation of which the Saviour spoke when He said this gospel was to "be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." This is God's appointed time for the finishing of His work in the earth. And the present world-wide proclamation of the gospel is a sign of the end, a token that the glorious reign of our Lord and Master is soon to be ushered in. The Approaching End of the Age
Two great facts are kept constantly and impressively before the minds of men, warning them of the approaching end of the age. One is the devastating conflict among the nations, which is surely preparing them for the war of Armageddon. The other is the saving work of the gospel missionaries, which is preparing millions of lost men and women for the kingdom of God. The unprecedented preparations for exterminating wars constitute an impressive warning of the approaching "battle of the great day of God"—the war of Armageddon. The warring world could know this if it desired to know it. On the other hand, the world-wide missionary activities and achievements of the Christian church are convincing evidence, to the humble followers of Christ, that the reign of sin is soon to be broken, and the reign of righteousness is to begin. Every call for missionary volunteers, and every call for missionary offerings, should remind the people of God that the end is near. Truly the world is approaching a new age. Old things are passing away. How important that this hour should be rightly understood and improved!