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Rev. James M. Gray 183
expression. It meets the people in their homes and in their shops,
on their farms and their military encampments. By land and sea it
travels, by spoken word and printed page. Its insignia are not such
things as an arched cathedral and a priestly ritual, but an open
Bible and the Gospel song. It seeks not theirs but them. It has
nothing to receive, but the greatest of all things to give, and when
it is freely and earnestly presented in the unction of the Holy Spirit
to a people thus prepared for its reception, what may we not expect
in the way of fruit?
We speak of settled conditions in that great country, of wise
councils that need to prevail, of a strong and righteous government
so sorely longed for, and of international relations with Europe and
America that shall make for permanent world peace and temporal
prosperity to all concerned. But what can produce these material
blessings, to say nothing of salvation, and freedom from the power
of sin and rest of the individual soul, like a general knowledge and
acceptance of the free grace of God in Jesus Christ?
VI
The great need of Russia in this respect is man-power and money-
power to sustain it, and neither of these is scarce. We do not forget
that we are at war. We do not forget that the government is calling
for every able-bodied man of draft age, to don the military uniform
and fight the battles of his country. We are not indifferent to the
latest slogan, "Fight, or Work." There mfist be no idlers in this day.
Armies are not at war, nations are at war, and every citizen must
do his part. This we thoroughly believe and heartily endorse.
But there are some things to be said on the other side. In the first
place, the men we need for Russia’s evangelism are, in numbers, but
a drop in the bucket compared with the millions that must go to war.
In the second place, there are many among them who because of
physical disability could not go to war. In the third place, evan-
gelization in Russia is not the pastime of idlers, even the government
would recognize it as hard work. In the fourth place, it has a
political and international value of the highest rate. In the fifth
place, the government recognizes the right of exemption for men who
are actually engaged in such holy service. "\Ve need not fear to ask
for men.
And so far as money is concerned, we are only just beginning to
find out how rich we are. The revelations of the income tax show
hundreds of men and women in this country with incomes of a million
and near a million.
And we are only just beginning to find out how to give. Liberty
bonds and thrift stamps, and war-taxes, and Red Cross and War
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