S. L. Jacob
No. 4 — Modern Times: 16th to the 20th Century
The darkness could scarcely have been deeper than it appears to the spiritual eye at the commencement of this period, but God had His resources; and just when the state of things could not have been worse there burst forth a glorious light in almost every country in Europe — it was a time of God’s visitation. Martin Luther’s is the, name especially associated with this movement and with the truth of justification by faith, but Le Fevre and William Farel, in Paris, preached justification through Christ alone before Luther knew it. Zwingle and Calvin in Switzerland, Berquin and Beza in France, John Knox in Scotland, were amongst the most illustrious witnesses of this period; but nearly every country in Europe had its glorious martyrs, and there was more and greater cruelty practiced upon them by the so-called Christians in Papacy than even under the worst pagan persecutions. Thank God for the many steadfast ones of that time. England, Scotland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, a great part of Germany, and part of Switzerland, were emancipated from the Roman yoke at that time and have had much prosperity ever since, though, alas, the spiritual has so greatly succumbed to the material.
God knocked at the door of Spain and grand were its martyrs; even from the highest ranks brave souls were found willing to bear dishonor and incredible tortures; but the light was ruthlessly stamped out by direst cruelties at the hands of the Inquisition, and Spain sank from its proud position of first of the nations to the low place it has held since.
France has a vast martyr roll, but the sword was taken up and great battles fought; spirituality waned, and many have been the sufferings of that great nation since, and the end is not yet.
Italy had but few martyrs save in the Waldensian Alps. The chain of Rome was not broken there, and the state of that land today is very sad.
In Hungary, Bohemia and Poland, many died for Christ’s sake, but it almost seemed as if they had died in vain, though this can never be. Their record is on high, and their works do follow them.
We cannot be too thankful for this movement of God in the 16th century, generally called the Reformation, without which apparently all had been lost; but alas! the spirituality soon waned, as we see in the epistle to the Church in Sardis (Rev. 3:1-61And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. 2Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. 3Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. 4Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. 5He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. 6He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 3:1‑6)), which doubtless foreshadows this condition of things. Political ends took the place of spiritual ones, and in the 17th century Protestant Europe had sunk very low. In the 18th century God granted in England a wonderful revival through the Wesleys, Whitfield, and a host of others, who preached the gospel, according to their light, with remarkable zeal and fervor, and God greatly blessed the word. Germany had its blessing through Labadie, Terstegen, Count Zinzendorf, and many others, and thus God did not leave Himself without witness. Even among Roman Catholics, Fenelon, Pascal, Madame Guyon, and others, bore witness to the truth and suffered in consequence. Roman Catholicism, though unchanged in heart, put on a more decent garb.
In the 16th century, after America had been discovered, South and Central America were seized by the Spanish and Portuguese (the latter taking Brazil).
These vast regions were nominally Christianized, the inhabitants were cruelly treated and robbed, and their history is incredibly sad. At the present time the yoke of Spain and Portugal has been broken, and the great majority (all except the interior tribes of the States) are nominally Christian, but heathen darkness pervades the whole. Some light has penetrated here and there in modern times, and still, thank God, the gospel is being preached in these dark regions. May the Lord of the harvest send more laborers into the harvest. The laborers are very few.
Remarkable to say, the earliest modern missions to heathendom have been carried out by Roman Catholics. In the 14th century Ramon Lull, a Spanish layman, who seems to have been a godly man, went once and again to preach Christ in a Mohammeden stronghold, and finally lost his life in consequence. He may be termed the father of modern missions, yet before him Francis of Assisi had gone out to Egypt, and his followers to other places.
In Reformation times rose up Ignatius Loyola and the Society of Jesuits, who went out far and wide through the earth to spread their religion and to plant the banner of Rome. The most noted of these missionaries was Francis Xavier, who labored long in India, and died off China, longing to enter it.
Was the work of these men all bad? We know that great and terrible evils were mixed up with their work, but can we say it was all bad? Mixture of good and evil is what we see everywhere, the bad not so bad, but that there is some good (Rev. 18:44And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Revelation 18:4)), the best not so good, but that great and sad evil is found there, as Judas among the twelve.
The evil of these Jesuits is easily seen, and in the days of their prosperity they were proud, acted with cruelty, and behaved themselves as great lords; but in times of adversity when they were proscribed, banished, and persecuted, they often crept back one by one and endured hardships and suffered much with the persecuted flock. The persecuted converts in China and Japan also at times came out right well in evil days. Thank God for this, and that His heart is so far greater than ours. The judgment seat ill becomes us, but if we see any signs of good let us rejoice. At the present day the state of the Roman Catholic missions is very low indeed everywhere.
Modern Protestant missions date almost entirely from the last 200 years. The Moravian brethren were pioneers on this line and their works have, been noble, but the great impulse in this direction was chiefly from about the year 1800; since then the work has greatly spread, and almost the whole of the heathen world has been more or less occupied by missionaries. These are defective, as indeed we all are, but their methods are apparently far purer than most of those of the early centuries of the Christian era, and they are mostly converted men and women doing their best according to their measure, and their lives are as lights in dark places. The more the difficulties and hardships, the brighter as a rule are their lives. In deserts and in mountains, in torrid and in arctic zones, in Central Asia and in Africa will be found refined men and women who, forsaking pleasant times in the Fatherland, have gone out to preach Christ to the poor, the degraded, and the unrefined. Thank God for such, for they are, as it were, some of those who form the salt of the earth. As ever, the brightest are generally found at the outskirts and not in Christian centers.
China, Japan, Uganda, Madagascar, and many other countries have furnished their quota of devoted martyrs in recent years — thank God for this. If the general standard amongst the Protestant converts from heathendom is not high, yet we can thank God for what there is of Christ, and this is not little, and many have been found willing to forsake father, mother, wife, children and property for the Lord’s sake. Will He call this nothing? Oh, it is easy to criticize — God have mercy on the critics — they are generally accusers of the brethren. No, the only criticism worth anything is the work of him who will do better than another and show more of Christ. God raise up many such critics.
For ourselves, we have lived a lifetime in a heathen land, and know the weaknesses of modern missions better than most; but we thank God for them; they have preserved from utter corruption; thousands upon thousands have been won for Christ from all parts of heathendom; and many lights still burn brightly in the dark places of the earth; and year by year God shows how He loves to bless and use those who humbly seek Him.
But early in the 19th century came a great spiritual movement, doubtless corresponding to the address to the Church in Philadelphia (Rev. 3:7-137And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 8I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. 9Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 10Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 11Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 12Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. 13He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 3:7‑13)); a most blessed movement it was: not so wide spread as the Reformation, but far deeper and more spiritual. The glories of Christ were unfolded in a way never known before, save in the days of the apostles. The place of the Church, the counsels and purposes of God, the coming of Christ, and many other kindred truths rejoiced the hearts of thousands, as they were again brought to light (though always in Scripture), and ministered with power.
These blessed truths spread far and wide, and produced real heart-separation from the world and a true watching for the Lord’s return. But with accession of light there is always danger, for if the conscience and heart are not brought into exercise thereby, it becomes the knowledge that puffs up, and produces the bitter fruits of self-felicitation, the judging of others, spiritual pride, coldness of heart, and indifference to the prosperity of the gospel to sinners. Alas I how much of this is painfully manifest today.
What is before us now? Nothing but Laodicea and the coming of Christ (Rev. 3:14-2214And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 3:14‑22)). He will not come to a Christendom yearning for Him, but to take His own beloved ones out of corrupt Christendom to be forever with Himself, before He comes in judgment to deal with this world.
O God, teach us; make Thy people faithful; cause us to love the reproach of Christ more than all the treasures of Egypt; to suffer the loss of all things that we may win Christ; to have fellowship in His sufferings and know the power of His resurrection. O God, bless Thy people, and maintain the cause of Christ until the end, deepening the work within, as corruption grows without.
We would, make one last appeal to those who have much light in these last days. Oh, brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, let us love one another as He gave us commandment. Sinners are perishing everywhere for lack of a full, clear gospel, saints are perishing for lack of knowledge. Let us give these to them. Has not the light and truth been given for this purpose? Is the lamp lighted to be put under a bushel? Let us give others credit for being as sincerely anxious to do the will of God as ourselves. We are expressly told not to judge one another. Who are we, to judge Another’s servant? Beloved brethren, while seeking to walk in deepest self-judgment and humiliation, seeking to maintain true separation to God, let us understand that to go out in the real passion of love to Christ and to men, with the gospel and with the truth, is not to lack separation, but to be followers of Him whom the Father sent to be the Savior of the world, and of him who said “Be ye imitators of me, as I also am of Christ.”