November 11

And ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with Me from the beginning. John 15, 27.

The apostles were to be witnesses of their Lord "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." They were to bring the divine message of the Gospel to a lost world. The duty for which they were thus commissioned involved great hardships. The times were evil. Idolatry permeated the nations. It was interwoven with their legislation, philosophy, literature, and art, influenced all popular feeling, and was intrenched in the heart and life of the people. Against all this the Gospel was a protest. Those who proclaimed it had to

attack all that the heathen held most sacred, but which held them in the power of Satan. The schools, the religions, the traditions, the laws, the prejudices, and all the activities of the heathen were against them.

It is not so bad now. But the offense of the Cross has not ceased. The battle between Christ and Antichrist still rages. The devil is still the god of this world, and he still stirs to put the witnesses of Christ under the ban. And from the spirit which still shows itself we may judge how it was when all the world was of one mind against the Gospel and see how great was the danger that God's witnesses might yield or become ashamed of the testimony they were divinely called to give.

The children of this world cannot bear to hear Christians telling them that they are sinners, murderers of their own souls, going to perdition. Such doctrine the self-righteousness of man is ever ready to reject. But still Christ commands: "Ye also shall bear witness." This witness rests on the work of His redemption, and hence the divine power of the Gospel is manifested by it. Wherever this Gospel is proclaimed, paganism begins to vanish; the glories of idolatry grow dim; the splendor of the heathen temples fades. Shall we, then, be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord? Shall we flinch and refuse to be His witnesses?

Prayer.

Christ, our dear Lord and Savior, grant us grace that we may not fall into temptation. Keep us pure and blameless, in the simplicity of the true faith, and deliver us from all evil, from the kingdom of Satan, and from the wicked world. Let us not be ashamed to bear testimony to the truth, to be witnesses of Thee. By the foolishness of preaching it hath pleased Thee to destroy the wisdom of the wise and to bring to naught the understanding of the prudent. To Thee be thanks and praise forever! Amen.

Oh, what a Savior, gracious to all, Oh, how His blessings around us fall! Gently to comfort, willing to cheer. Sleeping or waking, Jesus is near. Praise our Redeemer, reigning above; Witness of Jesus, tell of His love; Tell of His mercy, boundless and free; No one can save us, Lord God, like Thee.