Witnesses

WHEN Jesus was about to leave this world, to go to His Father in heaven, He said to the men and women He loved, and whom He was leaving behind, “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me." (Acts 1:8.) Now, I want to talk a little bit to you boys and girls who love Jesus about this, because, you see, Jesus has not come back yet, and you and I are to be His witnesses in His absence, just as those dis­ciples were when first He went away.
Last autumn I was staying with some friends near a little village in Hampshire, which was all in a fuss about a trial that was going on as to the fishing in the river. There were two gentlemen, who each said that this fishing belonged to him, so that the other had no right to catch any of the fish. I cannot tell you which of the two was in the right, but the whole village was in great excitement, and everyone taking sides with one gentleman or the other, and more and less angry with those that did not agree with them.
It was of no use anyone saying he did not want to be on either side, for the vil­lagers were all so hot about the matter that they were sure to prove everybody was with one party or the other. I was only a visitor, you know, and out of it all, yet one afternoon, when a gentleman from this village was calling at the house where I was staying, he pressed me to say which side I was on. I replied, “Oh! I am on neither; but naturally I sympathize with Mr. So-and-so, as he has now the property which belonged for a long while to this family, and they always had the fishing."
“Ah, then, you are on his side! “he exclaimed, laughing.
As the proverb says, "A straw shows which way the wind blows," so my few words had proved which side I favored. Just in the same way, perhaps some of you think that you will not let others know that you love Jesus, for fear it should bring you into trouble with those who are not on His side; but, oh! dear children, if you have it in your heart to be true to Him, you cannot help it coming out in your ways, and those who are watching you will very quickly know whether you are for or against Him.
Boys and girls often think they will not take sides with either Christ or the devil, but will comfortably keep along in a middle course, and be friends with the followers of both. But this will not do— it cannot be! Jesus said plainly, " No man can serve two masters. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." So everyone of us is siding with either one or the other. Though you may think you would rather like to serve Christ and be on His side, yet, if you are still undecided for. Him, you are really serving the devil, and are taking His side.
When the trial about the fishing was coming on in London each of the gentlemen took up a number of men to Town to witness for him, and it was all the talk I heard about these wit­nesses that made me think of the Lord's words when He was going away, and of what He requires in those who are to testify for Him.
Now, in the first place, these men had all to know something about the case, or they would have been of no help whatever, and so, as wit­nesses for Jesus, we must really know some­thing of Him. It would have been of no use if these men had only been able to say what their neighbors, or fathers, or grandfathers knew about the fishing in that river; the question was, what did they know themselves? And let me ask you, what do you know of Jesus that you can bear witness for Him? You will be useless if you can only testify that father or mother, brothers or sisters, are Christians, and cannot state that you know the Lord yourself.
Then it would have been quite in vain to take up a man to London who would say one thing in his own home, and another in public, one thing one day, and another thing another day. Men were wanted who would stick to what they held, through thick and thin. So, in like manner, if you are a witness for Jesus, you must pray for grace and courage to stand firmly for Him every day and everywhere, or your testimony will be worthless.
I was told that one of these countrymen was in such a great hurry to give his witness that as soon as he came into court he called out, " I am here to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth " Upon which he was requested to keep silent until spoken to. I thought myself it was doubtful whether that man would not say rather more than the truth, as he was so quick to brag of what he would do—don't you think so, too? Peter said, in a boastful spirit, that he was ready to bear witness for Jesus, but when he might have done so in court he turned coward, and said he knew nothing about Him. So it does not do for us to boast of what we will do or say for Jesus, but we should pray that when we are called to speak for Him, we may have courage given us to speak" the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” about Him.
I heard that both of these gentlemen took great care of their own witnesses while up in London, providing in every way for their com­fort, and making such a good time for them. And so Jesus takes very tender care of those who are bearing witness for Him in this world, and fills their hearts with joy and gladness. He promises, too, that, if we confess His name now before men, He will confess ours hereafter before His Father and the holy angels. Only think of that! What a grand moment that will be for those who have been true to Jesus down here, and have bravely declared them­selves on His side, while the god of this world was disputing His rights!
The judge has not yet decided the fishing case, so none of us can know which of the two claimants will win. But there is no doubt at all as to which is the winning side in the more important things, of which we have made it a parable. We, who love Jesus, may sometimes seem to get the worst of it while witnessing for Him, but let us never lose sight of the great fact that the crowning day is coming, when all things shall be put under His feet, and when those who have stood for Him shall share His throne, and enter into His joy.
A. P. C.
Sketches of the Early Days of Christianity
AN EARLY CHURCH OF CHRIST.
LET us endeavor to picture to ourselves an early church of Christ, planted in the midst of heathendom. We must draw the materials to form our picture almost entirely from the Acts of the Apostles and the earlier epistles, for tradition or testimonies of the heathen can render us but little assistance. One thing is important to begin with. We must divert our thoughts from what we see around us in Christendom, and not fancy that the churches of Christ in apostolic days were just like the churches of our own times. In the early days men and women were called the church, now, buildings as well as persons are so designated. The apostles and the early Christian workers labored to find living stones for God in the quarry of paganism, and these were built up together upon the one foundation—Christ Jesus. So St. Peter ad­dresses the scattered strangers in many parts of the world “as living stones, built up a spiritual house," (1 Peter 2:5), and St. Paul teaches that believers, whether Gentile or Jew, "are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit" (Eph. 2:22).
We can easily understand that some time must have elapsed, and the ideas of heathen­dom must have been greatly affected by the teaching of Christians, before the buildings in which Christians assembled began to be called churches.
So far as buildings are concerned, wherein Christian service is conducted, we may gain an idea of the early days of the church from the efforts of missionaries among the heathen in China. There a missionary will penetrate into the dense darkness of paganism, perhaps one lone Christian in a huge city of idolaters. He speaks of God and Christ to one and another. Some are turned to God from their idols; they hold together, they have one God and Father, one Lord and Savior, one Holy Spirit amongst them. A cottage, the shelter of some trees, a secluded spot on a river's side; such are die places where the persons who form the church of Christ in that special part of China assemble together.
When St. Paul first spoke of Christ in Europe, it was by a river's side, where some pious Jewish women were wont to meet out­side the heathen city for prayer (Acts 16:13).
Then they went to the home of one of these women, the devout Lydia (vers. 14, 15). His own hired house in Rome, was the great preaching station for St. Paul for the space of two years, and there he “received all that came in unto him" (ch. 28:30, 31) Sometimes, if a Christian had a house of his own, the church of Christ would assemble there, as was the case with Nymphas (Col. 4:15), or, if there was ability, and number suffi­cient, the church would assemble in an ap­pointed spot, as they did in Troas, in the upper chamber. (Acts 20:8.)
At Athens, Paul preached in the open air, standing in the midst of Mars Hill, with the loveliest of heathen temples near, and the wisest of men for his audience, whose wisdom had not taught them to worship God save ignorantly (ch. 17:22-31) Anywhere, everywhere, was the word proclaimed. Frequently, a heathen city would have a Jewish synagogue in it, and thither usually St. Paul would first go, but, alas! too often to find there greater enmity to the Fatherland the Son than amongst the heathen.
There was nothing outwardly great in the church-nothing in early Christianity to answer to the pomp and processions of the heathen temples and worship. But there were words—divine, holy, beautiful—that had come from heaven, from God Himself, and by which the heathen might be saved. Words of life, of light, of love, never before breathed on earth; words of forgiveness, of glory; words of holiness, of peace.
In those early days, heathendom in a marked way had failed to give men's hearts rest. And this many among the heathen acutely felt.
Similarly we hear today of heathen in China sighing for rest of soul; yet not knowing, or in any way guessing what rest is as God gives it. The State religion exists, but often as a mere empty show, so that the moment the service to Buddha is ended, the very priests that chanted it together throng around the foreigner to hear him preach Christ. The pagans of Rome's olden days, like the pagans of China today, were dissatisfied, and this condition of mind was one preparation used by God for their reception of His salvation. However, the State religion, even if not really believed, had to be obeyed, and not to do this often en­tailed suffering even to death.
The Jews held the early Christians in su­preme hatred; they called them The Way. To them Christ crucified was a stumbling-block. The Gentiles despised the gospel—to them it was foolishness—simple nonsense. They neither believed in the cross of Christ meeting the need of man—for they had no notion of God's righteousness—nor in Christ's resurrection, for they had no idea of God's power. But the contempt in which the Chris­tians were held by the heathen began to be changed for hatred of them. The Christians had no State religion—no religious position whatever—and no religion the State could own, for they affirmed they belonged to heaven! They had no glorious temples; they were themselves stones of God's temple! They possessed no signs of greatness the world could recognize; the sign of their union was their love one for another.
It was urged against them, that they had no gods to worship, but one Christ who had died, whom they affirmed to be alive! And the strange puzzle of the heathen of this day, when they see Christians pray to the unseen God and not to or before an image, picture, or relic, helps us to comprehend this old pagan difficulty. Idols are the “abomi­nation” of Scripture, they are the works of man's hands, and misrepresentations of God, and "what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God." (2 Cor. 6:16)
Then it was said of them, They were moody and sour, and haters of mankind, they would not join in the homage of the gods, or partake in the shows and displays of the times. They were not fit to live who so regarded life. .Ah! if some of those ancient pagans could now visit Christendom, and see the theatrical per­formances and other gaieties there proceeding in church or chapel room, under the presiding care of Christian teachers, they would not be able to recognize the Christianity they hated.
But the sour and moody Christians loved one another, cared one for another, served one another, and they worshipped God in Spirit and in truth, and waited for His Son from heaven.
How came this strange and new faith to grow upon the earth? What was it that caused these churches of Christ, like stars in the rents of a cloudy midnight, to shine in the gloom of paganism, holding forth the word of life? God the Holy Spirit was among them! The Holy Spirit of the living God dwelt in the church! Hence the psalms and hymns and spiritual songs; hence the joy unspeakable and full of glory. The word of God was proclaimed in the energy of the Spirit by the apostles and their coadjutors; the hearts of men were opened to it to believe the things spoken, and "joy in the Holy Ghost” filled them.
Never let us forget, as we look back upon the early days of the church, that God the Spirit was the power by which the " word of God grew mightily and prevailed," or that the early church was supplied with divine power to effect its mission. In it were men who had spiritual gifts; some to speak in tongues, and thus ability to proclaim Christ and Him cruci­fied in various languages ; others to heal the sick, others to cast out demons, and thus to show what Christ's kingdom will be like when He establishes it upon the suffering earth. No picture that we can portray of an early church of Christ could be of the slightest practical value, did it not appear before our eyes glowing with the power and the grace of the Spirit of God; so let us seek to think more and more of the Holy Spirit in His wonderful ways in those early days.