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io THE PRESBYTEF
Prayer Meeting
Week Beginning February 21.
TOPIC: .THE POWER OF FAITH.
Matt. 8:5-13.
A centurion was the commander of a hundred men in ihe ltoman
legions. The average Roman soldiery consisted of men
of repute and the rank of centurion was correspondingly high.
This officer, woo came to Jesus as lip entwpit imn
was probably of good faniily, education and fortune. Being a
Roman, he was of heathen religion in his training and had cordially
liatcd the religion of the Jews. But his vocation having
brought him into contact with Jewish teachings and worship, he
became acquainted with the Scriptures,and had evidently developed*respect
for and confidence in the once despised faith; and
bad overcome Jewish prejudice against himself as we learn
from Luke 7:1-10. It appears from Luke's account that he first
sent elders of the Jews to implore our Lord's blessing upon his
sick servant and in making their plea they said, ' He loveth
our nation and hath built us a synagogue." It is not improbable
that this ofTicer had embraced the Jewish faith as is indicated
by his building a synagogue aud further by his compassionate
regard for his servant. He seems to have had a
regard more tender than merely that of an austere officer for
a dependent subordinate (God's compassion toward us makes
us compassionate toward others). His having sent the elders
to Jesus, then a company of his friends, and probably having
orae to Jesus in person, would indicate his extraordinary
solicitude.
The humility of this man. who by his training might be expected
to exhibit a haughty spirit, is noteworthy. "I am not
worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof; but speak the
word only and my servant shall be healed." Here is strikingly
presented another characteristic of Christian failh. The
one to whom he made his appeal was a poor Jew aud himself
belonged to the proud, powerful nation that held the Jews in
subjection, yet he sincerely felt that he was not worthy to
receive Jesus into his home. This Is the spirit of true disciplcship.
"Though the Lord be high, yet hath he resnect
unto the lo-.vly, but the proud he knoweth afar off."
The centurion's faith was remarkable, for he not only thought
Jesus could heal his servant, hut that there was no need of
methods or even of eprsonal contact. The Master's command
was sufficient. The divine volition would impart healing power.
He believed thai the authority of Jesus was supreme and
that his will could not be thwarted by conditions even so desperate.
This suppliants intelligence is admirable. He showed that
he nad a proper apprehension of P.hrist'-s pf-iaiinn
He illustrated this by his own position as a "man under
authority." He knew what it was to command and to have his
commands obeyed, and he Recorded to Jesus the authority he
had claimed and had exevcised. Intelligence of revealed truth
is in order to genuine faith.
That which our Lord commended, in the entire bearing of this
man, was his faith. Jesus "marveled and said, I have not
found so great faith, no. not in Israel." Nol even among his
disciples had he seen such an instance of faith. He then
announces the solemn fact that Gentiles shall come from
distant parts and shall bo heirs with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
to the riches of the kingdom, while "children of the kingdom,"
who fancied that they were entitled to its exclusive blessings,
would be cast out.
Our Lord wants a faith in us that will appropriate his own infinite
resources in supplying our needs and blessing our lives
to the glory of hi3 name.
y
TAN OF THE SOUTH. February 17, 1909.
Young People's Society
PRESENT DAY PIONEERS.
Topic for Sunday, February 28: "Home Missions; Present
Day Pioneers"?Ecclesiastes 11:14.
DAILY READINGS.
Monday: The sower ot the seed. Matthew 13:3-9.
Tuesday: A missionary call. Jeremiah l:4-i0.
Wednesday: A missionary message. Isaiah 40:1-11.
Thursday: The Missionary hardships. II Timothy 2:17.
Friday: Achieving impossibilities. Ezekiel 37.
Saturday: Missionary hardships. II Timothy 2:1-7.
The church puts a halo around the head of Its missionary
to the foreign field It owes one just as well to the man who
works in its home mission field.
To give the one is right; to deny the other is wrong. Not
no whit less interest should be taken in the foreign worker;
nut one whit less should be given to the mission worker at
home.
A. man is as much a pioneer of the church who penetrates
an unoccupied field in our own country as the one who goes
to a foreign land. The "distinction hotw^ ? ?? -?*
wwHvcii uumr tin(i lureign
missions is not justified by the Bible.
That home missionary is a special hero who goes to the
weak and struggling churches. There is almost obloquy In
the act, rather than glamour. He takes his reputation in his
hrrnd when he goes to such a field. It ought not so to be.
But just such heroes are needed, men who will for their
I<ord's sake go anywhere rather than for their own glory remain
in more ambitious places. Such men are of the stuff
of which true greatness is made. One day they will be properly
appraised and appreciated.
The call for zealous and steadfast home worker, so
? .. ? a j
great just new. Every Synod in the church could use many
men, and in the newer Synods great areas of territory lie fallow
and untouched where dozens of men of the right kind could be
placed if they could bo found. It is not so much the means
as it is the men that is the present problem.
What splendid results come to the church from her investment
in this department of activity! Texas is a fine example.
That powerful Syncd was twenty or thirty years ago our great
come mission field. It was cultivated, not as fully perhaps
as might have been, and today is rich towards other sections
in manifold forms of beneficence, has her own great institutions,
and is sending the gospel to other parts of the world.
Louisiana today calls for more men and more care perhaps
inan any other section of our church. Oniv < -??
? ?nut tj-ocycil
ministers work in her great territory. Parish after parish ha3
n it not a single Protestant church. Thousand of foreiguspeakipg
people are pouring into her borders every year. There
are three hundred thousand French-speaking people who never
lieur the gospel in its purity.
To be I he pioneers of a great work, what a glory it will be!
I low illustrious is the name of Whitman, who opened Oregon,
and of Jackson, whd opened Alaska! Wilson and Byers in
Texas, Welch in Arkansas, are names that will live forever.
The journeys of Gideon Blackburn into Tennessee are treasured
memories yet in the homes of the older people of the Volunteer
State. Arnold Miller's summer tours through Western
North Carolina almost marked an epoch to those people.
"Sow beside all waters" is the great command. Tbo promise
of a harvest is assured. "Regard not the signs" is another
command. One should not take counsel of his fears or yield
to the inauspiciousness of the surroundings. God will take
care of iho results. Good seed and good soil and heaven to
help both always produce a harvest..