the angels and principalities in heaven shall be made known by the church the manifold wisdom of God." God's wisdom exhibited in his conduct of affairs upon this earth is rolled up into a mighty scroll, and the angels cannot by foresight or by any revelation given unto them foreknow what this wisdom is. They can only learn it by studying attentively the progress of the church in the proclamation of the gospel; and as the church unrolls and pulls out the many folds of the wisdom of God, they, up yonder, looking down, see the unfolding and become acquainted with the manner in which the Lord Jesus Christ, through the gospel, is ruling among his enemies.

I wish here, with great deliberateness, to take the position that the only means ever to be employed on this earth for the conversion of any man is to preach the gospel blessed of God through the Holy Ghost. I mean to say that these conquests do not wait to be accomplished until our Lord comes the second time. They are to be accomplished in his personal absence and under the administration of the Holy Ghost, his vicar, his vice-gerent here upon this earth. They are not to be accomplished by the miraculous displays which shall attend the second advent. That is a pre-millennial vagary of the imagination not predicated upon a just construction of God's word. Whatever nation is to be evangelized is to be evangelized by preaching what you, who hold the truth of God, announce in the gospel of Jesus Christ; and

not one inhabitant of this earth shall ever enter the pearly gates of heaven that does not enter through the virtue of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on earth and proclaimed in this gospel. When he comes again, he comes not for the purpose of converting men. The power that he displays at his second coming is to be in flaming fire, taking vengeance upon them that know not God and look not for his appearing.

How does that fact bear upon the mission of this association? This way: If there should linger in your mind the thought that the nations of this world are to be converted to Christ by his second coming, then that would mean, not through sending out the rod of God's strength out of Zion, in plainer words not through a preached gospel. That would mean that Christ's vicar, the Holy Ghost, had failed as Christ's vice-gerent on earth in carrying out his purposes. That would mean that what the truth, blessed of the Holy Ghost, could not do, miracles, mere manifestations of power, could accomplish. And what is the practical effect of that thought? Why, if you are expecting to see the world grow worse and worse until Christ comes, and then be converted by the miraculous power then to be displayed, will you not say in your heart, " Why should I go? Why should I contribute? Why should I endeavor to lead the world to Jesus Christ, since it is not only an impracticable thing, but a thing contrary to the fixed purpose of God, who intends

to accomplish that very thing by a different instrumentality?" But what is the effect if you believe it as announced here? This effect: That if your commission extends to all nations, and if you are to make disciples of all nations by preaching the gospel to them, and if that gospel is to be blessed by the Holy Spirit, representing Christ in his personal absence, and there be no other means, then the world is lost if you do not be missionaries. Recreant are you to the high and solemn obligations which your blessed Lord imposed upon you.

If, then, Jesus rules among his enemies by "sending forth the rod of his strength out of Zion,” and if that "rod of strength" is the gospel, let all our trumpets sound this note: "Awake! Awake! Put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem!" "Arise, shine; for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes roundabout and see: All they gather themselves together, they come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee; the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. Who are these

that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? Surely the isles shall wait for me and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee." (Isa. 60: 1-5 and 8-9.) Let our united prayer be: "God be merciful to us and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah. That thy way be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations." (Ps. 67: 1-2.) Because from the depth of my heart I believe that the only hope of ever reaching anybody, who can be reached, is through the carrying out of this commission, therefore I have no election, no option. I must be a missionary. I dare not count the cost and stand appalled at the difficulties in the way, but going out with the rod of God's strength and smiting the strongholds, say to the isolating walls of China, "You cannot bar out the light that shines in the gospel of Jesus Christ;" say to Japan, "You cannot isolate yourself by legislation hostile to the reception of Jesus Christ." Say to the enthroned idolatries and superstitions that reign over a large part of the earth: "You must fall before the gospel of Jesus Christ, and not before the sound of the trumpet that wakes the dead at the second coming of Christ."

But one may ask, "How does that comport with such scriptures as this: 'Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?'"

(Luke 18:8.) There is no difficulty in the passage. In the original there is a definite article before "faith," which, according to all the rules of grammatical construction, must be construed as a demonstrative pronoun. "When he cometh, shall he find that faith on the earth?" What faith? The faith that he had been discussing in that parable. His people were becoming discouraged because their ways were not vindicated, and he is telling them to pray importunately, because God will hear his elect that cry, day and night, unto him. "Though he seem to tarry, he will not tarry." When he comes, will he find that faith on the earth, or will he find his people discouraged on account of the "loosing of Satan during that little season" when the armies of hell are marshaled against the camp of God and they see for the time being the glorious triumphs of the millennium overshadowed by the vampirehosts of Satan, and they will become discouraged and say, "Why will not God hear? Why do the righteous perish and none lay it to heart?" Hence the question: When he comes, will he find that faith on the earth, the faith that against appearances, the faith that under difficulties, the faith that, when the enemy are coming in like a flood, will say: "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. He does hear. He will deliver"? That is the faith of that text.

We have discussed so far the doctrine of the sovereignty of Jesus Christ, exercising absolute government over the entire universe, but exercising it per