The End

THEN the end! And when is this?
After the resurrection of the dead, and after death is no more. Christ is risen from the dead, and is now glorified in heaven. He is the firstfruits; presently the great harvest will be gathered in, and all who are Christ's will be raised from the dead and will be like the Lord in His heavenly glory. "Then the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
The enemies are still many and mighty. They are numerous upon earth, they are mighty in the heavenly places—the Accuser himself darkens by his shadow the outer courts of heaven—but Christ shall reign and put down all enemies. And lastly He will destroy death itself.
This is the end for which God's people are looking. The man of the world cannot look to the end—he hardly dares face death, and he will not entertain the contemplation of the judgment. No, when a man seriously and in the sight of God contemplates the judgment, he must seek for his own salvation, for his sins condemn him in the view of the judgment seat.
Our little selves have an end, and to those who are Christ's our end is His end—the Father's presence and the Father's kingdom. There we shall meet again our best beloved ones, and we shall never be separated from them. We look forward to an end of sin, of sorrow, of death, of dishonor to God, of lack of love and holiness—an end which shall consummate in an everlasting present of everlasting bliss.
The Mission Field
EGYPT.
THE woman here represented is a type often seen in Port Said. Port Said is an important station for Bible distribution, whence the Scriptures reach not only the Moslems, but also people of various nationalities. In parts of Egypt the sale of the Scriptures amongst the Moslems is much less difficult than used to be the case a few years previously.
As regards Port Said, the people are now divided into two classes, as it were: those who show bitter opposition to the colporteur and his books, and those who seem eager to obtain them. Amongst the former class the religious leaders are prominent. Alas this is too generally the case all the world over, for religion and truth are frequently as far apart as the Poles.
In Egypt and in Palestine the circulation of the Word of God is slowly making headway. Only a few years ago Islamism was all-supreme in those lands—now the Word of God is a living voice in them.
The earnest superintendent of the Bible Society's colportage work in Port Said, describes the abundant access that port presents for visiting ships of various nations, and selling the Scriptures to Turks, and to Russians, Romanists and Protestants. Necessarily there is opposition, but there is also immense encouragement.
The question, "Will the books be read?” says the superintendent, calls to mind a very serious conversation I had with a clergyman some time since. He said, "What is the use of putting the Bible into the hands of illiterate and ignorant people? They cannot understand it." My reply was, “Sir, I wish you could come with me some day on board one of the large Russian transports, and study the faces of men sitting about who have purchased a Bible or a Testament, and are now giving their whole minds to the perusal of the volume. Watch their faces and the faces of those to whom they are reading. This would be the most eloquent, and, at the same time, the most persuasive answer to your question.”
“The fact is," he adds," that these thousands of people with whom we come in contact are enabled to read and to understand the simple truths of the Gospel.”
Bible distribution is simply supplying the world with the Word of God. God speaks to men in His Word; and it is painful unbelief to suppose that God does not make His Word plain and understandable. If Romanists, Mahomedans, and others who endeavor to stop the circulation of the Bible, conceived that it was a Book which we could understand, they would not be so busy. The truth is: "The entrance of God's Word giveth light: it giveth understanding to the simple.”
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FROM THE NEW HEBRIDES.
TOM TANNA'S CHURCH.
Tom, the converted heathen, started an evening school among his own people, and the missionaries came one evening to see the work; and so far as it can be remembered this is Tom's prayer—the first they had heard uttered in English by an islander:—
“O Lord God Father, we thank Thee dis night for bring altogether people here. Lord Father, help altogether, make we fellow strong along Jesus. We no savey (know) much, we savey too little. O Lord Father, stop along heaven, good fellow place, look down along dis world and see ebery man sinner. Jesus He born piccannini, He grow man, He shed blood along Cross, wash away sin belong heart. O Lord Father, help we altogether think about Jesus ebery day, ebery hour. Keep from steal, keep from tellum lie, keep from ebery bad thing, keep from Satan. Help we altogether keep close along Jesus ebery day, ebery hour. Help ebery man and woman here, and ebery man who no come help bring him come. O Lord Father, we altogether sinner. Nothing take away sin, only blood of Jesus. Jesus Master, we thank Thee. Help us all we go along work we think about Jesus all the time. All dis we ask for Jesus' sake, Amen.”