World-Wide War…Real and Sham
by C. T. Studd

God speaks to us by His W ord and also by events. W hen both messages coincide they become a concentrated revelation to which we do well to give more earnest heed. The startling message of events today is “War.” The message of God running throughout the Bible is “War” also. In the Old Testa ment note the narratives of Moses. Joshua. David. and the vision of Daniel. “I saw a great warfare.” In the New Testa ment the Book of Acts is a history of the War of God, w hile the Epistles of the Apostle Paul abound in martial terms and metaphors. But w here does “Peace, perfect peace” come in? Peace is the end of the war of the soul against God—peace through the Blood of the Lamb—peace through faith in Christ.

The Christian Warfare But as faith without works is dead, so peace that produceth not war is but a corpse, m eet only for a pauper’s burial. Every soul sprinkled with the Blood of Jesus straightw ay becomes the possessor of peace and the sworn soldier of Christ, sworn to carry the message of peace and war to every soul that knows not the peace of God. “Be a good soldier of Jesus Christ,” said Paul. “ War the good warfare,” “ Fight the good fight of faith.” “ Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” And what is His Holy Will and His good pleasure but “that all men should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth?” Hear also what our Lord saith : “Come unto Me all . . .and I will give you rest,” but, “If any m an cometh unto Me and hateth not his own father and m other and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” “Whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after Me he cannot be My disciple.” “So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath he cannot be My disciple.” “Salt is good, but if even the salt have lost its savour…it is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill ; m en cast it out.” Who can fail to see that our Lord’s definition of a Christian is that of a soldier making a supreme sacrifice, gambling with his life and all for the privilege of m aking known the grace of God unto the utm ost parts of the inhabited world?

The “Sit-at-Ease” Christianity

What, therefore, shall we do with a slipshod sit-at-ease go-as-you-please Christianity? Aw ay with it! Aw ay with such a thing from the earth, for it is not fit that it should live. Let us get back to the Christianity of Christ and His Apostles. Let us cease our eternal marking time, our ridiculous processional goose-steps, our endless talkings while we sleep, and our selfish singing of ourselves to heaven. Let our forever multiplying Conferences be converted into war offices, recruiting stations, and depots for the fervent prosecution of “world-wide war for Jesus.” Our little Christian Army has gone a long way. But it has not gone nearly far enough; for it is too small to go round. Very much land still remains to be possessed. Our voluntary syste m has failed; now for universal service;ornamental Christianity is “off the slate,” a practical khaki one alone can fill the bill. Let every Christian hear and answer the call to arms—”Your God and Saviour need you.” Death, wounds, or wasting fevers are distinguished service medals: beware of qualifying for the order of the white feather. Aw ay with our ridiculous sham fighting! Let us get to real war, and so prosecute it as to finish it in the shortest possible time. Aw ay with all our silly faithless limitations of “thus far we will go, but no farther”! “Little Englanders” today are dead. “Little Christians” must die also. There are no limits to the comm and of Christ. There is no limit to the pow er of God, nor are there any bounds to His resources. “The Gospel must be preached to every creature… unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” Such are the marching orders of Christ and “Him shall ye hear is all things whatsoever He shall say unto you.”

The Whole Wide World for Jesus

The Allies are attacking and capturing every Post of the ene my Empire. Dare the soldiers of Christ delay to attack and capture every part of that of the devil? Shall the heart of Africa satisfy us? Not unless it satisfies Jesus and it does not. Nor does the heart of Asia satisfy Christ, nor yet the heart of South America. N othing can satisfy our Lord Jesus Christ till once again He can cry, “It is finished”! “The w ork that I gave My soldiers to do is finished, for now the Gospel has been proclaimed to every creature, even unto the uttermost Parts of the earth.” What satisfies Christ can satisfy His loyal soldiers and nothing else can. No loyal soldier of Christ can entertain the thought of peace or rest or live at ease or cease to advance and fight until the command of Christ has been executed in full. Not till every foot of the promised land had been won did the warriors of the t w o and a half tribes return to the enjoym ent of their families and possessions. Shall their devotion surpass ours? “Open thy mouth wide,” says Christ, “and I will fill it”— wider and wider still, till the w hole wide world has heard of Jesus.