"For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount."

"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein."

"The ministers of the Word, elders, and deacons shall before the celebration of the Lord's Supper exercise Christian censure among themselves, and in a friendly spirit admonish one another with regard to the discharge of their office."

Church Order, Article 81.

Fixing a day of censure every three months

For the effective maintenance of this discipline, every three months the ministers are to give special attention to see whether there is anything open to criticism among themselves, so that, as is right, it may be remedied.¹

In Churches holding the hierarchical or episcopal system one officebearer has greater authority than another. Consequently the higher officebearers exercise supervision and jurisdiction over those that occupy lower offices. The archbishop supervises the bishop; the bishop supervises the priest, etc. But the Reformed Churches are Presbyterian also in the matter of supervision. The office-bearers are equal in authority, each in his own sphere, and supervision is mutual. They supervise each other, just as the Churches supervise each other (Article 44). Now Article 81 provides for this mutual supervision of office-bearers.³

Some have supposed that we are warranted in the first presentation of Christianity in withholding those doctrines which antagonize Chinese systems and are calculated to excite prejudice and opposition, presenting only those features which are conciliatory and attractive, thus drawing the people to us and gaining an influence over them and afterwards giving them instruction in the complete system of Christian truth as they are able to bear it. I doubt very much whether such a course is justified by the teaching and example of our Savior and the apostles. God may and does in His mercy and grace make use of our incomplete presentation of His truth and an imperfect apprehension of it to the conversion and salvation of men; but have we not still greater reason for expecting His blessing in connection with His truth when given in its completeness? I believe there is no doctrine of Christianity the full presentation of which we need fear. ...It is for us, however, to make our teaching as full and clear as possible (Nevius, Planting and Development of Missionary Churches, p. 88).

It is equally obvious, however, that gradually they acquire the need for their own confession of faith, in which they can express what they themselves have found in God's Word. Such a confession must be formulated in opposition to the forces opposing them, in opposition to the communism that is everywhere rampant as a world religion; in opposition to the old religions still followed by many in their environment, and against Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and against the phenomenon of syncretism, the inclination found everywhere to mix all religions together. Such confessions of faith cannot be made, they must grow, they must be born out of a need (p. 204).

The great centres where he (Paul) spent most of his time were apparently not selected by him in accordance with a predetermined plan, but were providentially indicated to him in the ordinary course of his apostolic tours. But most missionaries, however much they may itinerate, will require a fixed place of residence that is a home in selecting which the chief consideration should be health, facilities for acquiring the language, and a place which is an influential centre in itself and affords easy access to the unevangelized regions about it. Such a home the apostle Paul had in Antioch, where he spent the intervals between his itinerating tours (p. 78).

It is not enough for the church to be established in a place where many are coming and going unless the people who come and go not only learn the Gospel, but learn it in such a way that they can propagate it. It has often happened that a mission has been established in an important city, and the surrounding country has been left untouched so far as the efforts of the native Christians have been concerned because the gospel was preached in such a form that the native convert who himself received it did not understand how to spread it, nor realize that it was entrusted to him for that purpose. By establishing the church in two or three centres St. Paul claimed that he had evangelized the whole province. Ten years after his first start from Antioch, he told the Romans that he had "fully preached the Gospel of Christ from Jerusalem and round about Illyricum," and that he had "no more place in those parts." In that single sentence we have the explanation and the justification of St Paul's establishment of the churches in important centres in a province. When he had occupied two or three centres he had really and effectually occupied the province (Missionary Methods: Saint Paul's or Ours?, p. 13).

It has been to me a matter of constant regret that a portion of time was not strictly reserved, especially during my first five or ten years in China, for laying a broader and deeper foundation for future usefulness by a more extensive and methodical reading and memorizing of Mandarin and Classic literature. Suitable and adequate plans were made for such study, but other occupations in the form of direct missionary work, promising immediate results, were allowed to interfere with and set aside those plans. In this way, as in many others, we are too easily induced to sacrifice a greater future good to a less present one (p. 76).

If I were asked what in my opinion is the most important of all departments of mission work in China, I should not be able to answer categorically. All are important. The most important work for each man is undoubtedly that for which he is best fitted and to which he is specially called. Book-making is the ripest and richest fruit of all. Its influence extends over nations and continents and goes down to successive generations (p. 77).

Some will say that depending largely upon the voluntary and unpaid labor of native Christians for the propagation of the Gospel is pre-supposing a larger amount of zeal and devotion on their part than is found among Christians at home. If this is true, so much the worse for Christians at home. I believe the contrary, however. There is a great army of active workers at home as well as idlers. As to young converts in our country stations, it is a fact that they are willing to do this work and able to do it, and still further that they do it. In the early history of the Church, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, Christianity spread chiefly through the voluntary zeal of ordinary church members, and the work of the apostles consisted mainly in superintending and organizing the companies of Christians they gathered. Their zeal was so great that persecution could not repress, but only intensified it. If there is not that zeal and effort in the Church at home, it is much to be deplored. Perhaps the want of it is due in a great measure to a growing habit of leaving work for Christ to be done by those who are paid for it. Where such an idea prevails, whether at home or on missionary ground, it tends to paralyze the power of the Church for good (p. 25).

When a man becomes a Christian the fact is known through the whole circle of his acquaintances, male and female, far and wide. It is generally believed that his mind has lost its balance. He is shunned for a time, but before long his friends visit him either from sympathy or curiosity. They find him in apparently a normal condition and working quietly in his shop or on his farm, and are curious to know what this new departure means. An opportunity is thus afforded of presenting the claims of Christianity as not the religion of the foreigner but the true religion for all mankind (p. 43).