Christ's Witnesses in Dark Places

CHRIST'S WIT ESSES I DARK PLACES WILLIAM L. WATKI SO

Even in the days of Antipas My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwelleth.— Rev. 2 : 13.

OTE the aim of our Lord in permitting His people to be placed in circumstances of severe temptation. Christ does not arbitrarily call His people into scenes of wickedness and temptation ; He has a distinct and sufficient reason for subjecting them to such an ordeal. Antipas was His faithful one, His witness ; one called to live and teach, to suffer and die, that the light of Christ might shine into the darkest circles. To this benign end Christ's people to-dayfind themselves coerced into uncongenial and dangerous neighborhoods and associations. Their surroundings are not of their choosing and liking, but they are allocated that they may best serve their Master and their generation. " Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord." It is not enough that the Christian character remains uncorrupted by the epidemic of wickedness; the Christian must protest against that wickedness, and war against it to the death. In the worst of cities this is our mission. God has not forgotten the struggling, sinning, suffer220

Christ's Witnesses in Dark Places 221 ing millions. He who in the days of His flesh " had compassion on the multitude " has not less compassion now, and He stations His servants where they may most effectually deal with the sins and sorrows of the multitude. He does not withdraw His people from the world and leave it to its doom, but in the worst centres posts His representatives with messages of mercy and hope. It is a most interesting and suggestive fact concerning Mount Vesuvius that its slopes are rich in medicinal plants ; competent observers declare

that its desolate dells are veritable gardens of simples. Thus where sin burns, blasts, and blackens the most, God appoints His healing ministries, and provides precious antidotes for those ready to perish. Do not complain about your city surroundings. Witness a good confession. Where Mammon is worshipped testify that a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possesses ; in Vanity Fair proclaim the seriousness of life; charm Sodom with the beauty of holiness ; and show to those who have fallen the deepest, that there is a way to heaven even from the gates of hell. Set up God's altar by the side of the devil's throne, and pluck the brands from the burning. If our daily task brings us into associations of ungodliness and sin, our mission is to witness for Christ. The collier in the mine, the sailor on the sea, the soldier in the barracks, the laborer in the

222 Christ's Witnesses in Dark Places field, and the shopman in the store, must witness a good confession. He who appoints our place and work never loses sight of this as one of the primary ends of His providence. The spheres in which many godly people are called to live and work are painfully forbidding, starkly irreligious, often defiantly impious ; yet it is exactly here that they are most needed. Do not ask for a pleasing environment, if only you may witness for Christ in forlorn places. A lighthouse is not built in a sweet landscape, girdled with gardens, and sheltered from the storm ; but on the naked rock, on the edge of the awful sea, exposed to all the winds that blow : and Christ's witnesses must brave self-denials that they may hold forth the word of life where the rocks and wrecks are thickest. Some of Christ's disciples are shut up to irreligious and immoral homes. Are not these to witness for their Master? " Go home to thy friends, and show them what great things He hath done for thee, and how He hath had compassion upon thee." Home missions are as

necessary as foreign missions, and the domestic commission often calls for the highest qualities of service. You are billeted in that godless, heathen home for a benign end, as Joseph was in the house of Pharaoh, Obadiah in the court of Ahab, and Daniel in the palace of Babylon. Be Christ's faithful one.

Christ's Witnesses in Dark Places 223 Milton sings of Moloch :

or content with such Audacious neighborhood, the wisest heart Of Solomon he led by fraud to build His temple right against the temple of God. Let us reverse this process, and build the temple of God right against the idol shrine wherever it may be found ; bring your knowledge, influence, talents, and character to bear boldly and directly upon all that is evil. " Overcome evil with good."

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