O, how sweet to walk with Jesus,
Trusting always in His power,
Knowing He will guide and keep us
Ever in the trying hour!
O, what peace to work with Jesus,
Scattering sunshine by the way,
Knowing that the seed we scatter
He will water every day!
O, how blest to talk with Jesus,
Bowing lowly at His feet,
Knowing He will ever give us
Grace for every trial meet!
Thus we'll walk and work with Jesus,
Talk with Him—yes, every day;
He will give the promised blessing—
Guide and keep us all the way.
CLARA L. RICHARDS.
REDEMPTION
By J. E. Evans
No one question has engaged the mind of man more than that of his future state. All classes, in all ages, and of all religions, have been eager to decide it, and, notwithstanding the many conflicting opinions, each has supposed the matter fully settled. But human reason and speculation are not sufficient to decide so important a matter. Aside from the Word of God, the question must remain unanswered. Here we are not left to ourselves, but that Word which bears the unmistakable evidence of divine origin plainly reveals the purpose of God concerning His creatures.
The word “redemption” is commonly understood to mean “the deliverance of sinners from the bondage of sin and the penalties of God’s violated law.”—Webster. In these brief articles it is my purpose to show that the redemptive plan includes more than this, more than the restoration of the image of God in man, and to present a few thoughts concerning the power by which this plan is to be brought to a successful termination.
In the works of God in nature is sufficient evidence to satisfy the most skeptical mind that the beauty, order, and infinite variety displayed about Him everywhere, and in His own being, have not come by chance, but are the work of an intelligent supreme Power, One who well knew, and Himself devised, everything that would increase the happiness of earth’s inhabitants. O, how faint are our conceptions of the love and power of our heavenly Father! Still He seeks our good. Had man been placed beyond the possibility of sinning, he could never have fully known the value or strength of divine love. Nor could the created intelligences of sinless worlds have known the strength of that love, or the nature of sin, had not the scenes of this world’s history been permitted as an illustration. Therefore the present working out of the mystery of godliness and the mystery of iniquity will result in abounding glory to the Creator, and complete satisfaction on the part of all His creatures.
Apart from God nothing exists. His will determines right from wrong. Yet some sit in judgment upon the wisdom which devised a plan for man’s salvation. Here vain reason asserts itself, and refuses to accept anything which it can not fully comprehend, while around us are innumerable things in the book of nature which are accepted as facts without the aid of reason. Thus the mind of a created being, warped by sin, presumes to sit in judgment upon things over which it has no control, to disbelieve and condemn the One who has given him “life, and breath, and all things.” The One who sits as supreme judge is engaged in a useless task unless He possesses the power to carry into effect His decisions. Redemption is not an experiment. It is the open test of claims. The justice of God’s claims was denied, and reason professed to have found the way of true liberty. Now it must be proved that the principles given by God and enunciated by His Son Jesus Christ, are the only safe ones to follow.
Redeeming Power.
To fear God and keep His commandments is “the whole duty of man.” Eccl. 12:13. Jesus taught the same truth when He said to the young man, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Matt. 19:17. And He said to the lawyer who inquired of Him what constituted the greatest commandment of the law, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and . . . thy neighbor as thyself.” “All the law and the prophets,” He declares, hang upon this principle of love. We are exhorted to “owe no man anything, but to love one another.” Love is a duty required of all, and natural to the regenerate heart. Paul in Rom. 13:10 tells us that love is the fulfilling of the law. Again, in Gal. 6:2, he says, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” “The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.” “For the love of Christ constraineth us.” We say that one machine is operated by electricity, another by steam; but we learn from Gal. 5:6 that the Christian’s faith is worked by love.
In this world, money has a redeeming power; it is a measure of power and influence. In the eyes of men it sometimes redeems a guilty person from reproach, and is looked upon as a virtue. This is one side of its redeeming power. Not so is the price paid for man’s redemption. He who so uses money in this cause must perish with it. Naught but the love of God shed abroad in the heart, and manifest in the daily life, can save a single soul. This is redeeming power. It is Gospel power. In the minds of all who experience it, God is redeemed from the many false charges preferred; and all such, aid in the great work of redeeming lost man. Like the machine used for pulling stumps, this power may seem to be slow in doing its work, but this is only on account of the hardness of our hearts, in which sin is so deeply rooted. But the needed power is there, and will, if permitted, extract the last root of sin. Great power is not always manifested in an outward display, but may be as imperceptible as the plant life which opens the hardened soil, and claims a place in the riven rock. This God would have His children learn. Like His tried servant Elijah, we must learn that there is more power in the “still small voice” of our Creator, uttered in love, than in the many pretended displays of that power which do, and may be expected to, appear in these last days of peril.
Like his followers to the present day, Satan thought that the claims of the divine law were arbitrary. He became jealous, and decided that his ability was not appreciated. This led him to institute rebellion in heaven, and incite all whom he could to take up arms against the government of God. He succeeded in persuading some of the angels that his cause was just, but they were not permitted to carry on their rebellion in heaven. All such were cast out. In Luke 10:18 the Saviour says, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” And Rev. 12:12, 13 tells us that Satan has come down to this earth, and has found a place in which he could carry out his principles, demonstrate the nature of his government, and prove the character of his claims. The history of this world has been the history of that rebellion since its leader was cast out of heaven. But all along the way some have been saying: “Why was all this allowed? Why was not Satan and his host destroyed, and all this train of sorrow and distress prevented?” But, dear reader, would not this have increased the imagined injustice on the part of God? Had this been done, others, no doubt, would have eagerly accepted it as additional proof that God was arbitrary, and wished only to have His own way. Not only so, but the intelligences of this and other worlds would never have known the character of divine love. Love is liberty, but not license; and he who knows the nature of love will exercise toward others true liberty—that liberty described above. The love of God will be the theme for continual study for saved ones through all eternity. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, . . . when we were enemies.” John 15:13; Rom. 5:8-10. Here divine and human love are contrasted, and that love revealed which is the fulfilling of the law.
“For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for naught; and ye shall be redeemed without money.” Isa. 52:3. “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:18, 19. The above scriptures declare the sinner’s only hope. ’Tis all in Christ. Nothing but a living faith and an abiding trust in His atoning sacrifice can ease the guilty conscience, or wash away the awful stain which sin has made. But in “Him is plenteous redemption.” Ps. 130:7. He redeems them from “trouble” (Ps. 25:22), “from all iniquity” (Titus 2:14), and “from the curse of the law,” which is “death” (Gal. 3:13; Hosea 13:14). He is the “living” Redeemer (Job 19:25), the “mighty” Redeemer (Prov. 23:11), “our Redeemer” (Isa. 47:4), “your Redeemer” (Isa. 43:14), and “my Redeemer” (Ps. 19:14).
In giving His only Son to save all who will believe, God has forever cleared Himself of the Satanic charges brought against Him, for selfishness has never, and can never, so manifest itself. Therefore the death of Christ as a vicarious sacrifice not only satisfied the demands of the holy law of His Father, but was unimpeachable evidence to the righteous character of God, and the justice of His claims.
J. E. EVANS.
New Orleans, La.
“OUR MISSION.”
By T.
WE mean to suggest by the above heading that we can now speak to every reader of the SIGNS about “our Mission.” As you already know, our Mission is located at No. 641 Commercial Street, San Francisco, Cal. And you also are aware of the fact that the object of our Mission is to seek to help our most unfortunate fellow-men; to reach down to those who are at the bottom of the ladder and too much disheartened to look up. Yes, we hope to reach—we have reached—some who have even fallen from the ladder into the gulf below.
Did you ever try to imagine how you would feel if you had no home, nor money, nor friends? Life under such circumstances would hardly be worth living, would it? Yet there are hundreds dragging themselves along who are just in that condition. They are much of the time cold and hungry, and surely are quite miserable. Real happiness only comes to them in their dreams, or during some flitting moment when the present is obscured by the memories of the past.
Perhaps you think that these dirty, and sometimes loathsome-looking creatures, are too low down to have ever had a noble thought or impulse. Well, suppose that it is true. You have noble impulses, do you not? Then why not meet these poor fellows and impart to them some of the hopes, good cheer, and Christian sentiments that have been such an inspiration in your own life? It will bring a joy to your soul that you have never felt before, to see the hearts of these outcasts become tender and their eyes moistened with tears, as they come in contact with a Christianity that is deeper than hollow words, and broader and more practical than pharisaical prayers. Hundreds of hearts are sinking in despair, not knowing the remedy for their troubles. As soon as the pure Gospel in all its ways of practical helpfulness is presented to them, they recognize in it the one thing for which their souls have been longing.
Then how good it is that in our Mission just such work is provided for! Many of the readers of the SIGNS have taken a practical interest in our Mission, by sending means to support it. But the work must not stop with simple giving of our means. We should give ourselves also to this practical work for the Master. T.
“TOWARD THE UNKNOWN.”
The opinions of great men, especially those of long experience and wide observation, are eagerly sought in times of great crises. The World’s Rome correspondent cables the following interview with the great Italian statesman, Ex-premier Crispi. It is a terse, graphic presentation of the worldly view:—
Ex-premier Crispi, who was asked to-day what he thought would be the result of the Spanish-American war, said emphatically, “It is the end of Spain.”
“You are severe on valiant Spain.”
“Valiant and chivalrous, yes. But Spain, in our nineteenth century, needs a practical spirit, in which Spaniards are absolutely wanting. I do not say Americans have any right to interfere in the affairs of Cuba, but certainly the Spaniards have shown themselves cruel, barbarous, and incapable of governing the Pearl of the Antilles. The first cause of it all is the general condition of ignorance in the upper as well as the lower classes.”
“What result do you anticipate the war will have?”
“Grave results. Cuba, after the war, will be a small republic, and will be constantly in revolution or bankruptcy; and it is feared the Americans, intoxicated by easy success, will throw haphazard all their energy against the European colonies which are in the neighborhood of their republic.”
“Do you think Europe ought to have intervened in this war to save Spain?”
“Alas! Europe resembles Spain from a certain point of view. Anarchy is everywhere dominant. The European concert is only a sinister joke.”
“We are then marching direct to ruination and decadence?”
“No, toward the unknown.”
Passing by the references to “the end of Spain,” her internal condition, the future of Cuba, and what the United States may do—all of which are worthy of consideration—we wish briefly to notice two points:—
1. The condition of Europe. Certainly Mr. Crispi, so long prime minister of Italy, has a right to know the internal conditions of European governments. He has the secrets of her international councils which have never been given to the world. He knows that all the outward calm is but the lie of skilled diplomats, endeavoring to put far off the coming conflict. He knows that in every country of Europe there are hot-beds of anarchy, sown, watered, cultivated, fertilized by the expense of great standing armies, numerous and extravagant royal families, and government officials, burdensome taxation, and crushing competition for the very necessities of existence. “Anarchy is everywhere dominant. The European concert is only a sinister joke.”
Thus things were in France before the breaking out of the revolution in the latter part of the last century. God symbolized the revolution that followed by a beast coming up out of the abyss, or chaos. Rev. 11:7. That condition of France, that revolution which followed, that government which succeeded the revolution, the goddess of which was the apotheosis of the fulness of the lowest natural lusts, are all but faintly typical of the very condition of things which now exists in ever-increasing intensity throughout Europe; of the coming bottomless pit, or abyss, of anarchy; and of the ten-divisioned confederacy to arise out of it, symbolized in Rev. 17:8, 12, 13, upon which will be superimposed a restored Papacy. Just how all this may come about we do not know. This we do see and know, it may come soon. The nations are ready, the tempests of strife are ready to charge upon the world; God holds the winds till His work is finished. Rev. 7:1-3. The confederacies of earth are bound together but by a rope of the sand of selfishness.
2. “Toward the unknown” the world is indeed marching. It might be the known. Did they know the end, they would call a halt, about face, and march the other way. They are ignorant, willingly ignorant of the knowledge that would save them. God has given it in His prophetic Word. That is God’s lamp to light all His children through this darkened world to the eternal world of light and beauty.
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts.” That Word reveals to us that the kingdoms of this world are about to “become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ” (Rev. 11:15); that the time is near when “the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.”
To the child of God the future is not “unknown.” He knows what lies before. “Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” O soul in darkness, come to the light of God’s Word, to the Light of the world, even Jesus Christ!
BAPTIZED WITH THE HOLY GHOST.
To be baptized with the Holy Ghost is to be “filled with the Spirit,” or life, of God. This is not a life the current of which flows in obedience to carnal law, or law of our flesh. It is a life-current which operates after the law of the Giver of the Spirit. When any soul will yield absolutely to the law of God as it is in Christ Jesus, he will receive God’s life more abundantly.
This is what consecration means,—to give all to God, heart, mind, soul, strength; to count all His all the time. God can not dishonor Himself by bestowing His life in its fulness upon those who will use it to their own glory. He will give His life for the preservation of such ones as long as there is hope; but He does not pour out of His Spirit for selfish service.
But when the whole man is yielded to God, to be used of God, God fits that soul for service by filling him with His Spirit. Nay, but by the very submission of the whole being to God, the Spirit comes in. The prayer, the faith, the surrender, opens the appointed channel for the Spirit, which waits to enter and make effective every talent of every child of God.
There are but few persons indeed who do not desire to be baptized “into the name of the Father,” to be justified from sin, to have all iniquity pardoned.
There are not many comparatively that desire to be baptized “into the name of the Son”—the utter emptying of self, which was the mind of Christ. Self-effacement is not a desirable thing for any one who cherishes selfishness.
There is a still smaller number who desire to be baptized “into the name of the Holy Ghost,” because this means baptism for service, not our own, not our neighbor’s, but God’s service, anywhere, anywhen, everywhere, everywhen. But as this is the greatest relinquishment of self, it brings the greatest joy, even the joy of Jesus Christ.
Who does not want to serve God? Who does not want to be baptized—immersed—in the Holy Spirit, the great stream of divine life, and thus be fitted for God’s service? God is willing to prepare us; are we willing to be prepared?
Question Corner
“Enquire and make search and ask diligently.”
767. What is the Meaning of the Word “Hell”?
What is the meaning of the word “hell” in Matt. 10:28; Luke 12:5? ERNEST READER.
The word is the same in both texts. It is from Gehenna, the place of future punishment of the wicked. It comes from a Hebrew word, meaning the Valley of Hinnom, where the filth and offal from the city of Jerusalem were consumed. It is therefore the symbol of utter destruction.
Please explain Ps. 90:10, “We fly away.” Does the original give any light? E. E.
It simply means to pass away. The original word is translated, “be faint,” “flee away,” “fly,” etc. It simply means to pass away suddenly, pass out of existence; the place we were one moment knows us not the next.
769. Eli and Samuel.
Why is Eli always referred to as an example for parents to avoid, while nothing is ever said about Samuel? It seems that his children did not turn out much better than Eli’s. J. E. G.
Doubtless because of what the Lord said, as recorded in 1 Sam. 2:22–30; 3:13, 14. His neglect seemed to be very great, while his sons were constantly with him. Samuel’s work for Israel took him much away from his home. His neglect was a mistake for Israel’s sake; Eli’s seems to have been to shirk an unpleasant duty.
Please show the harmony between these scriptures: “As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Matt. 12:40. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” John 2:19. O. B.
What is meant by “heart of the earth”? Does it mean the grave, or does it mean the powers of earth? Our Lord was in the hands of the powers of earth from the time of His betrayal and arrest. See John 12:23, 27; Luke 22:53. The three days and nights then began, parts of days being counted as whole days, as is common in Scripture, and as is shown in Luke 24:21.
771. Origin of the Canaanites.
Please tell me whether I am right or wrong in believing that the Canaanites were and are the colored or black race? Were not the Egyptians some of the descendants of Ham, and the Israelites the descendants of Shem, and the Gentiles the descendants of Japheth? U. A. N.
The negroes of America were not descendants of the Canaanites. See the sons of Ham in Gen. 10:6. The Canaanites doubtless descended from Canaan, the Egyptians from Mizraim, and the darker tribes of Africa from Cush. All of the sons of Ham may have been of darker complexion than their brethren. The hot climate and soil doubtless modified the different tribes. The Israelites descended from Shem; the white, or Aryan race, as the European nations from Japheth. The term Gentiles is generally applied to all those nations—Shemitic, Hamitic, and Japhetic—outside of Israel.
772. The Sons of God.
Who were the “sons of God” in Gen. 6:2 that took them wives of the daughters of men? V. A. U.
The “sons of God” were sons of Seth, men who worshiped God, and who called “themselves by the name of the Lord.” Gen. 4:26, margin. The “daughters of men” were descendants of the wicked who knew not God. All were descendants of Adam. Your idea that the first and second chapters of Genesis both give an account of the same creation of man, one in general and the other in particular, is correct.
“GO TO NOW, YE RICH MEN.”
By T.
The first verses of the fifth chapter of James are addressed to a particular class of men and at a particular time. The first verse shows that it is the “rich men” who are addressed, and the last part of the third verse shows that the time when they are thus addressed is in the “last days.” These verses are a prophecy, and the language is the most literal and clear, so that any one may readily understand it. Turn to the fifth chapter of James in your own Bible, and study each statement carefully and thoroughly. The first three verses are as follows:—
“Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.”
There is certainly no sin in the simple matter of being rich; for the Scriptures say that “thou shalt remember the Lord thy God; for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore unto thy fathers, as it is this day.” Deut. 8:18.
“It is He that giveth thee power to get wealth.” Any power or gift bestowed of God should be used. And if a man has the ability to accumulate wealth, he should exercise that ability.
But the acquiring of wealth must be accomplished in a proper and lawful manner. And the wealth after acquired should be properly used. There could be no right motive in getting money except to do good with it. A man with hoarded wealth that he is not using unselfishly in helping others, is committing a great wrong. And God will call him to account for the abuse of his intrusted talents.
In the “last days” there will be men who “heap treasure together” in an unlawful manner; for the text says, “Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth.” James 5:4. Then with what clearness does the Word of God tell us that “fraud” and the oppression of the “laborer” is the great factor in the “heaping together” of treasure in these last days.
And then the manner in which this heaped-up treasure is used is also stated in language of unmistakable clearness. Says the apostle, “Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.” James 5:5. Thus sin is added to sin. Fraud and the oppression of the laborer are exercised in heaping this wealth together, and then “wanton” “pleasures” and “nourishing the heart” “as in a day of slaughter” are indulged in. And all this in the touching and imploring presence of the greatest destitution! With the pitiful cries of the laborers ringing in their ears, these possessors of heaped-up wealth plunge deeper and ever deeper into their pleasures and sensual gratifications.
With this picture so vividly brought before our minds by these wonderful prophetic utterances, is it any wonder that the Lord sends a message of warning to the “rich” of these last days, couched in such expressive language? “Go to now,” says the inspired Word, “ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.” James 5:1. Then “miseries” will surely come upon the rich men that will cause them to “weep and howl.” It is a divine principle that “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Matt. 7:1. And just as these men grind down the poor, and cause untold and indescribable suffering and miseries, even so is the day surely coming when their miseries will wring the bitterest cries and weeping from their unregenerate souls.
There is even now such a sentiment against the rich that it will require only a little spark to start an onslaught against them the like of which the world has never beheld. There are the men and women who are having their very lives ground out in the “sweat shops;” there are those who are employed in many of the great factories and other places where they can make only a few dollars per week with which to support their families; and then to these must be added the vast army of the destitute and unemployed who think that no work is given to them because the men of wealth have brought about conditions that make it impossible for the laborer to have his rights. God is mercifully holding all these elements in check now, while He appeals to rich and poor alike to turn from the errors of their ways. But when the last one of these days of probation is closed, and in that short time of trouble which immediately precedes the second coming of Christ, all of these elements will break loose, and the prophecy will be literally fulfilled that “there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.” Dan. 12:1.
The man is indeed blind who can not see that the elements for this “time of trouble” are forming all over the world to-day. And the time can not be long delayed when it will be necessary for divine justice to say, “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.” The Lord has given them warning upon warning in His Word; still they pursue their wrong course. He even caused these warnings to be written hundreds of years before the “last days,” in which time they particularly apply; but, disregarding every warning and entreaty, they continue to pursue the course that their own enlightened consciences is telling them all the time is an evil way.
Their “riches are corrupted,” and their “garments are moth-eaten,” says the apostle. And continuing he says: “Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” James 5:2, 3. Thus these “last-days” rich men simply heap up treasure. They do not use it. It becomes “corrupted,” “moth-eaten,” and the “canker” and “rust” of this accumulated wealth is yet to “eat their flesh as it were fire.”
How can men be so hard-hearted as to simply pile up wealth beyond any possibility of ever using it, and while it is rusting and corrupting, they remain unmoved amid the moanings of destitution and distress? The “cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts.” And the Judge of all the earth has appointed a time of settlement. But before that time of final settlement, He is seeking to win all to the right paths,—to draw them into the blessed experiences of the tender love of God. Heed the voice of divine entreaty while probation still awaits you. T.
God Is Love
By Martin F. Tupper
GOD, from a beautiful necessity, is love.—Martin F. Tupper.
“PIETY AND PATRIOTISM.”
By W. N. G.
It is always refreshing to hear that “the Gospel has made a great impression” upon any people, and this is what the secretary of the American Presbyterian Board writes concerning the Koreans, after a visit among them. To this he adds, what would logically be expected, that “the contrast between these Christians who have just emerged from the darkness of paganism and the Koreans not yet reached, is most striking.” But there is one discouraging feature in connection with the report, and that is, these Korean Christian babes have already imbibed the delusive notion (now so prevalent in the United States) that the flag is an essential element in Christianity. “It is a custom among them to fly their national flag from their houses on Sunday, and the flag is also seen surmounting their churches. Their piety and patriotism are thus shown.”
This idea that Christian piety and patriotism (in the common acceptation of the word) must go together, is sadly detrimental to real Christian progress. The common idea of patriotism is standing by the flag even to the use of carnal weapons against an opponent, even if he be recognized as a Christian brother. Now if such Christian patriotism be commendable in the United States or Great Britain, it is equally good in Korea, Japan, Spain, France, Germany, Russia, or anywhere else. Then, in case of war between any two nations, “piety and patriotism” would send the Christians of each country to support the flags of their respective governments, even to the killing of their brother Christians on the other side.
We have a good illustration of this inconsistency in the Catholic Church. When the war for secession broke out in the United States, the pope sent his blessing to Mr. Jefferson Davis, President of the Southern Confederacy; but in the Union Army, as well as in that of the Confederacy, there were no more loyal or efficient soldiers than those of the Catholic faith. The same principle was manifest in the leading Protestant denominations,—the Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists each being divided on territorial lines. The present controversy between the United States and Spain also brings out a marked example of the effects of the “piety-and-patriotism” doctrine. There is no class of people in this country more ready and willing to engage in the conflict with Spain than the Catholics, and perhaps no denomination of professed Christians has as many adherents in the ranks as the Catholic. On the other hand, the Catholic bishop of Madrid recently said to Mr. Creelman, the noted newspaper correspondent:—
“I would give my solemn benediction to every banner floating over all war ships fighting against the United States to keep us Cuba.”
Again, there are Methodists in Spain; they are Spanish citizens, and therefore it is as much their Christian duty to defend the Spanish flag as it is for an American Methodist to defend the American flag. Dr. E. R. Dille, of this city, is a recognized Methodist representative, and here is a recent utterance of his while addressing the Young Men’s Christian Association:—
“If the Maine, that lay sleeping in Havana harbor, like a guest in the house of a friend, was destroyed by Spanish treachery; if our gallant tars were sent to their deaths without a chance for their lives, the Maine must be avenged. . . . War is sometimes as holy as white-robed peace, and if war is necessary to vindicate the honor of our flag, let it come. If the Maine was destroyed by Spanish treachery, with the connivance of the authorities, then we must build a monument to our heroes on the ruins of Morro Castle.”
But this is not only a Methodist sentiment; all the more prominent Protestant denominations practically indorse this position, of course barring individual exceptions. But the Lord has spoken on the subject of vengeance: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Rom. 12:19. Now the basis of Christianity is faith in the Word of God, and if we believe that vengeance belongs to Him, we will not attempt to take it out of His hands. If we believe that He “will repay,” why not let Him repay? He is the best judge of proper vengeance, and of the best time and the best manner of repaying wrong. The Christian who assumes to take the prerogative of God into his own hands, denies the faith and sets himself up against the One whom he professes to follow. The Master positively enjoins His followers not to resist evil (Matt. 5:38–41), and He set the example in His own life, under the most galling provocation.
It is a sad reflection to think that, as the Gospel is carried at great expense to the heathen, it is by the same hands retarded by the false idea that it must also bear aloft the banners of all earthly nations, and espouse both sides in all their selfish conflicts. If the nations must have war, let them have it in their own names; but let not the name of Christ be stained with the blood of men, for whom He gave His own blood, that they might be saved.
W. N. G.
“CHRISTIANITY AND WAR.”
The following is an editorial from the San Francisco Chronicle of April 16. Coming as it does from a purely secular paper, it is all the more suggestive. We present it without comment. It is worthy of a careful reading:—
Christianity and War.
“The statement of the Kaiser that ‘he who is no brave Christian is no brave man and no brave soldier either, and can under no circumstances fulfil the duty required of a soldier in the Prussian army,’ not only invited caricature by means of which a Berlin humorist went to jail for lese majeste, but called the notice of cynics to the curious tendency of the German emperor to associate the spirit of Christianity with organized slaughter. To the sane and non-imperial mind Christianity is expressed in the Sermon on the Mount, not in the oath of a Prussian soldier to smash people who get in his way, nor in the summons of the militant camp preacher to redress human wrongs by destroying human life. The Founder of Christianity said, ‘Whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also;’ and added: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.’ There is small room here for the Prussian soldier to cut a figure or a throat, or for the physically brave man to show the qualities that commend him to a modern war lord. Probably if one of the Kaiser’s Uhlans should turn the other cheek, he would be shot at sunrise, and if an officer did it instead of running his persecutor through, he would have to commit suicide to escape disgrace.
“‘Of all the cant ever canted in this canting world’ that of acclaiming war or the pursuit of arms as Christianity is the most detestable. The Berlin humorist ridiculed the idea that the religion of the Prince of Peace is instrumental in making a man fulfil the duty of a soldier by picturing the Kaiser’s infidel but conquering ancestor, Frederick the Great, and those irreligious but militant worthies, Alexander Leonidas, and Napoleon, jeering the Kaiser’s dictum in the light of their own experience. But he might have gone farther and flouted the assumption that a man can fulfil the duty of a soldier and still illustrate any of the crucial virtues of the Gospel.
“We hear much from the yellow pulpits at this crisis, about it being Christian duty to avenge throat-cutting in one place by more throat-cutting in another. Strident pulpiteers like C. O. Brown summon law-abiding men to ‘rise’ and sharpen the edge of murderous tools, assuring their amazed hearers that the author of the Sermon on the Mount ‘leads on’ to achieve the unprepared-for death of multitudes. Was there ever a more ghastly anachronism?”
“War may be at times needful in the present state of human nature; war in self-defense is not to be avoided. But let us have a truce from Kaisers or clergy alike when it comes to their saying that war is or can be Christian. It is Hebraic or Mohammedan or pagan, but it is as far removed in all its manifestations from the Gospel of the New Testament as are murder, robbery, and incendiarism. Indeed, the final triumph of Christianity is predicated on a reformed world, where there will be neither wars nor rumors of wars. In that millennial age the Prussian soldier or any other kind of soldier will be unknown.”
DEFAULTING AND DEFAULTERS.
The San Francisco papers bring us the news that the treasurer of that city has embezzled $116,000 from its funds. Such failures of treasurers and others in charge of funds are of daily occurrence. Millions of dollars are being taken in this way every year. And each succeeding year shows a worse record than the previous one. Many men have loudly claimed that the world is growing very much better; but the facts are all against them. God’s Word declares that “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2 Tim. 3:13. The facts all show that God is right and the statements of the divine Book are true. To go with the multitude is the most popular for the present, but to walk with God is right both now and forevermore.
On April 20 another train in California was held up by robbers. This is the second occurrence of this kind within the last few weeks. These robberies, in their frequency and boldness, forcibly remind us of the Scriptures, which tell that in the “last days” the earth shall be “filled with violence.” The prevalence of robberies of all kinds, the murdering, and, above it all, the prevalent war fever, unmistakably give evidence that we have reached an age of “violence.” And the great boasts of the civilization that we have attained, are only empty bubbles in the face of the appalling facts that surround us.
