War Furies as Seen by the Prophets—A World Gone Mad—What Is the Portent?
By Roland E. Loasby
For many years, a storm has been gathering, and a war cloud, like the sword of Damocles, has been hanging over this world. We have seen its shadows, and have wondered anxiously, When will this burst?
Sees the End from the Beginning
God also has seen this troubled condition, for He sees the end from the beginning, and He has described it in the following words: “Proclaim ye this among the gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.” Joel 3:9-11.
The warning of the late Earl Roberts to the British nation seems a fitting complement to this message to the nation and the message to my countrymen at this solemn hour is: ‘Arm and prepare to quit yourselves like men, for the time of your ordeal is at hand.’” And so persistent has the cry to arm become, that even the most cursory reader of the daily press is familiar with the tremendous efforts that all the powers have been putting forth to increase the number and power of their fighting utilities and units. The prevailing militarism—the superiority of the military, and the subordination of the civic power—is an overwhelming testimony to the fulfillment of the words of Joel.
Science and War
Modern science has turned its genius and energy to the evolution of forces of destruction, rather than of conservation. Scientists themselves have confessed that “science is perhaps the most inhuman of all man’s works.”
An example of what modern science is doing, is seen in the development of the dirigible airship. The latest air craft of this make is as large as a modern ocean steamer. This giant vessel can travel at an average speed of from forty to sixty miles an hour, is equipped with wireless apparatus, and fitted with guns for offensive work. Of the dirigible’s value we had ample evidence when the Hague, the Aboukir, and the Cressy were sunk,—three British warships that were sighted by a Schütte-Lanz airship, whose commander “wirelessed” their location to his base, with the result that a German submarine was able to find and to sink them in a fraction of the time that would have been spent in ordinary sea scouting.
Fearful Explosives and Awful Guns
When it is able to get home its torpedo, the deadly submarine effects the destruction of the ship attacked, practically at the first blow. The latest torpedo, charged with 420 pounds of trinitrotoluol, can loosen up the internal structure of a ship so badly as to make her foundering only a question of time.
A Belgian Fort, Screened by the Woods
As an example of the latest development of ships for surface warfare, the Queen Elizabeth, of Dardanelles fame, is sufficient. Her gigantic fifteen-inch guns throw a shell weighing nearly 2,000 pounds a distance of twenty miles. It is sufficient only to mention the modern military automobile; the aeroplane; the machine gun; and the latest rifle, the Lewis gun, now manufactured by England, which has a magazine arrangement that can be regulated as desired to discharge between 350 and 750 shots a minute. The advance of troops before a battery of such destroyers is practically impossible.
Such Appalling Armies
Surely the words of Joel, “Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears,” have been fulfilled a thousand-fold. He also said, “Wake up the mighty men,” “Assemble yourselves.” We used to shudder at the account of the battle of Austerlitz, with its army of 75,000 men; at the battle of Leipsic, called the “battle of the nations,” in which 130,000 French were opposed to 230,000 allies; and at Napoleon’s famous campaign against Russia, which was conducted with 450,000 men. But how these figures pale before Germany’s total war strength of 5,200,000 men, France’s 4,000,000 men, Austria-Hungary’s 2,000,000 men, and Russia’s 5,000,000 men! These mighty nations are to-day locked in deadly combat across the fields of Europe, equipped with all the marvels of destruction that modern science has been able to produce.
A Generation Gone Mad
What do all these things mean? It is not difficult to tell. The Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill said, in 1912: “No one can measure the consequences of a general war. The original cause would soon be lost in the greater and more terrible issues which would be raised. No one can say that there is any great power which would not be involved in such a cataclysm. No one can say there is any institution in Europe which would certainly be left standing at its close. All might be cast into the abyss, and in the destruction of a few weeks or months, injury might be wrought to the fabric of our economic and social life which would plunge it back almost into the desolation and barbarism of the Middle Ages. And the only epitaph to write upon such a catastrophe would be that this whole generation of men went mad and tore themselves to pieces.”
A Power for Protection
Surely a fearful picture, and one that bids fair to be realized. But we can abide in the assurance that the gospel remains “the power of God unto salvation” to every one that believes. And we can heed the word of God, which not only shows us these things beforehand, but can make us strong in troubled times. And as we learn to lean upon God and His word, we may have the full assurance that some day, in the earth renewed, the council of peace will again prevail.
The Hope of the World
By Charles R. Erdman
THE hope of the world is not in a new social order instituted by unregenerate men; not a millennium made by man; not a commonwealth organized as a socialistic state; but a kingdom established by Christ which will fill the earth with glory at the coming of the King.—Charles R. Erdman, D. D.
Unprecedented Hoards of Gold
By Walter A. Nelson
The Wealth of the Nation Cornered by a Handful of Men — The Consequent Impoverishing of Others — What Does It All Mean?
By Walter A. Nelson
NEVER before was there such hoarding of wealth as now. The millionaire is no longer considered a wonder; there are many multimillionaires in the United States; and it is estimated that one man's fortune totals a billion. In 1845 there were only nineteen millionaires in this country; in 1892 there were 4,047; and to-day the number reaches 6,000.
Last year's returns of the income tax show that forty-four persons in the United States receive each an annual income of one million dollars or over. The Washington Herald of November 15, 1914, gave a list of one hundred who probably receive this amount each year. In 1845 only one person received this enormous income.
COUNTRY'S WEALTH CONTROLLED BY FEW
While the number of rich men has greatly increased since 1845, yet to-day the wealth of the country is pouring into the coffers of the comparatively few. It has been estimated that “one per cent of our population owns practically ninety-nine per cent of the entire wealth of the nation.” A United States senator has said, “This concentration of wealth is the most terrible commentary that was ever recorded in the book of time.”
The aggregate wealth of the eight richest men in America totals the sum of $2,800,000,000. John D. Rockefeller, with an estimated fortune of $1,000,000,000, heads this list. If Adam had lived till the present time, and had banked $450 every day of his life, the amount to his credit would still fall $15,000,000 short of this colossal fortune. It has been figured out that if John D. Rockefeller possessed his fortune in silver dollars, “they would make a pile, stacked as coins are ordinarily stacked, 248 miles high. Set edge to edge, these dollars would form a glittering ribbon stretching from New York to Salt Lake City.” Astounding figures, but true!
The financial condition is further seen by the revelations made by the Pujo Investigating Committee in 1912. The Washington Times, reporting the results of the committee's search, said: “Domination of $25,325,000,000 of the nation's wealth by eighteen leading financial firms was the stupendous evidence purporting to show actual, real existence of a money trust before the Pujo Investigating Committee to-day. . . . The data represented the efforts of thirty expert accountants of the committee,—the most complete and amazing collection of financial statistics ever collected.”
THE MASSES OPPRESSED
Such control and hoarding of the nation's wealth by the few cannot but have a disastrous effect upon the great multitudes. All know too well the struggle of the masses for a livelihood. Instances are not rare where children five and six years of age work by the day to help meet the family expense.
The United States census of 1910 shows that there were 1,990,225 children of both sexes from ten to sixteen years of age engaged in gainful occupation, or 18.4 per cent of the total number of children of that age. All this and untold volumes more is the result of the unequal distribution of the country's wealth. But it is not without its significance.
GREAT WEALTH AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
The apostle James, speaking of the last days, says: “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. . . . Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. . . . Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” James 5: 1-3, 8.
“John D. Rockefeller, with an estimated fortune of $1,000,000,000, heads this list.”
The vast sum of money rusting and cankering in the vaults of the rich is one of the many signs that proclaim our time to be the last days. Those who are oppressed by this condition must be patient, waiting for the appearing of their Lord to end their afflictions and to recompense their oppressors.
THROWN TO THE BATS
When the Lord comes, these cankered treasures of the rich will be a witness against them. They will realize, when too late, the good that might have been done by their wealth, and feeling their condemnation, they will seek to part with it.
Isaiah says: “In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” Isa. 2: 20, 21. “But the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” Joel 3: 16.
Why Is Christ Coming Again?
By John Hottel
WE can best understand why, as we see the motive that prompted Him to lay down His life for us. When He ascended to heaven, where there is only peace and happiness, He did not forget us. His love for us did not become less. He loves us as much to-day as He did when on the cross.
Christ is longing for the time to come when He can return to take His people from this sinful world and reward those who have been faithful in all ages.
He is looking forward with great joy to the time when He can have our companionship. We love to be in the company of our friends, and separation from them makes a void in our lives. The same is true of Christ. He wants to see us and talk with us face to face.
JOHN HOTTEL
Aroused in Behalf of the Heathen
By H. F. Brown
Remarkably Burdened to Carry the Gospel to the Dark Lands—Nothing Like It Since Apostolic Days—The Book That Circulated Fifteen Million in a Year
By H. F. Brown
THE nineteenth century has witnessed a revival in the evangelization of the world such as never has been experienced since the time of the apostles.
The Missionary Zeal of the Early Church Died Out
Following the first few centuries, the spread of Christianity was slow. True, the barbarians of the north were baptized en masse when their rulers accepted the new religion. However, the missionary propaganda died out, except for a few spasmodic attempts of small evangelistic bodies.
The long, dark centuries dragged slowly by, and the heathen were left in ignorance of the return of the Lord to the world. These conditions obtained for over a millennium. Then the Reformation came, bringing liberty of thought and Bible study. Yet the Reformers felt they had too great a work at home to concern themselves with the heathen. They thought the commission of Christ to go to the entire world had rested particularly upon the apostles. The cause of missions waited a long time before it was championed.
The Beginning of the Modern Movement
The modern movement toward missions, which we see now, was begun in 1793, when William Carey sailed for India. The Baptist Missionary Society was organized to “hold the ropes” for him while he descended to the depths of heathenism. Carey’s reports from India aroused England to the call of missions, and the London Missionary Society was formed two years later.
The ship Duff, with twenty-nine missionaries, sailed to the South Seas, sent by this society. Four years later the Church Missionary Society began its career. One of its fundamental principles was, “If clergymen cannot be found, send laymen.” In Germany, also, the fires were kindled, and missionaries were sent to the fields through the already existing societies. The Netherlands Missionary Society was organized in Holland in 1797, and the Wesleyan Church formed a separate society seventeen years later.
America’s Part
Most Christians are familiar with the beginning of the interest in foreign mission work in America. All have heard of the “haystack meeting,” in which four young men of Williams College formed a mission band. A few years later, Adoniram Judson became the first American foreign missionary. The American Board was organized in 1799 to send him to India. On the voyage, he accepted immersion as the true mode of baptism, and four years later the Baptist Missionary Union was formed to support him. These American societies, as well as the English societies, are still in operation.
The movement for missions was more firmly established in Europe by the formation of the Basel society in 1816, and the Berlin society eight years later. The Scottish society followed in another five years. Christians everywhere seemed to sense their responsibilities to the heathen.
A Comparison Between Then and Now
With these small beginnings of a century ago, let us contrast the present statistics of missions. The movement has grown until at the present time nearly every local church has its society or mission study band. Many of the larger churches support their own missionaries in the fields. The Missionary Review of the World for March, 1915, gives statistical reports of the various denominations. During 1914 approximately $35,000,000 was given throughout the world for foreign missions. A century ago there was expended in this work only a few thousand dollars. There were in the year just past almost 25,000 missionaries from Europe and America laboring in the foreign fields. There are only a few thousand less than three million converts from heathenism to Christianity at the present time. Last year, 200,000 converts were won by the American missionaries alone, or an average of 600 a day.
The Work of the Written Word
Haystack Monument
A most important factor of missionary endeavor is the distribution of the Bible. In 1804 the British and Foreign Bible Society was organized. Just a few years previous, there had been formed in England and Scotland the Religious Tract Societies. Edwin Bliss thus describes this period: “Missionary and tract societies sprang up everywhere, while across the Atlantic a number of organizations of the same general character were merged into the American Bible Society in 1816, and the American Tract Society in 1823.” At that time, the Bible was translated into only sixty-five languages. Within the past century, it has been translated into over 500 languages, and made accessible to more than 800,000,000 of the human race.
An Output with an Increasing Demand
The recording secretary of the American Bible Society, Henry Otis Dwight, said in the Missionary Review of the World, January, 1914: “In spite of the fact that there are more Bibles and portions than there were in existence two hundred years ago, there is yearly an increase in the demand for the Scriptures. The aggregate issues of all the Bible societies in the world that print the Scriptures, so far as is known, amounted in 1912 to 15,902,396 volumes.”
The Chicago Examiner of June 17, 1913, said, “For every volume of the best sellers that is issued each year, a carload of Bibles is manufactured.”
The Nineteenth Century a Prophecy of the Twentieth
It will be noticed that the dates of the forming of the various missionary societies are in a period of thirty-six years beginning in 1793. Why is this special interest in missionary work taken in the nineteenth century? Why was it not begun earlier, or left to later ages? Immense societies of young people and students whose one aim is, “The evangelization of the world in this generation,” have become numerous. Last year in Kansas City the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions had 5,000 representatives from 755 colleges and universities in the United States, met to discuss how better to carry the gospel to the world.
“We Have Waited for Him”
Why this great activity in mission circles at this special time? Jesus gave as one of the signs of His return to the earth this very movement. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matt. 24:14. This movement gathers from all the nations the throng who, on seeing the heavens part as a scroll, say, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us.” Isa. 25:9.
Both a Sign and a Precursor
This great missionary movement is necessary to announce the advent of Christ to the world, and to prepare the waiting people. The gospel is now going to all the world, giving each judgment-bound soul the opportunity to repent and be saved. The great missionary awakening of this age is in itself a sign, an unmistakable evidence that “the end of all things is at hand.”
The Glory at His Coming
By G. B. T.
It Will Be Awe-Inspiring Beyond Description — No Power Can Possibly Duplicate It
The second advent of our divine Lord will be the most majestic and glorious event of the history of the world. To exploit their victories over other nations, kingdoms have prepared magnificent and gorgeous pageants, and have displayed, so far as men can, the splendor of earthly empires. But all this dims as the candle before the noonday sun in comparison with the sublimity attendant upon the Son of God when He comes to reap the harvest of the earth, and to gather into the garner of heaven the victors through His blood.
The Lord Himself Will Come
The One who comes is Himself God. He marshals the host of heaven, and is clothed in light unapproachable. The Patmos seer beheld Him in vision, and said that “His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.” Rev. 1: 16. When Christ appeared to Saul on the way to Damascus, the light that was seen, though the sun was shining in its midday power, was “above the brightness of the sun.” Isaiah the prophet beheld the throne of God, and its attendant glory, and cried out that he was undone.
These instances give us but a faint view of the splendor and grandeur that surround the eternal Son of God.
The Combined Glory of All
And even more than this is promised. He is to “come in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.” Luke 9: 26. It is not within the bounds of human utterance to describe the power and glory foreshadowed in those few words of Scripture. When one angel descended with a commission from the Father to bring back to life His Son, sleeping in Joseph’s tomb, the brightness that attended him struck awe to the hearts of the Roman guard, and they fell as dead men in his presence. What unsurpassed brilliancy will attend the King of kings when as a triumphant conqueror He comes, with unnumbered millions of the shining heavenly host in His train! All the armies that are in heaven, seraphim and cherubim, will follow the Captain of the Lord’s host when He comes to liberate the captives in the tomb, and to translate the living righteous. Then, too, will be seen the awful glory of the Father Himself.
False Christs Can Never Do It
False christs have appeared at times since Jesus left the earth, and others may yet appear. But whatever manifestation of supernatural power may be given to confirm their false claim, they can never counterfeit the manner of the Saviour’s coming.
Neither can the events that attend the Saviour’s appearance be brought to pass by any false christ. When Jesus comes, “all that are in the graves shall hear His voice,” and rise. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. 4: 16-18.
The Graves Are Opened Then
In that awful hour, when the Redeemer returns for His people, the graves of those who are dead, some of them for millenniums, will be opened, and the ransomed ones will rise, clothed in immortal health and vigor, and be translated into the kingdom. The living wicked will be destroyed by the glory of the Lord, and lie, unlamented and unburied, upon the face of the earth. The earth will quake, and the rocks will be rent. Islands with living freight will sink to rise no more, and mountains will disappear.
Truly, no pretentious impostor who claims to be the Christ ever has or ever will demonstrate his claims in the midst of scenes so awe-inspiring.
The Great Event at Hand
We are to-day down on the stream of time, past the rise and fall of empires foreshadowed in prophecy, to the days when this great event is about to take place. The hope of Israel is soon to be realized. God’s people should indeed look up with joy. We are truly living in troublous times; but this is only a fulfillment of the words of God, and in no uncertain tones tells us that the day of God is at the door, and the Son of man is soon to come.
G. B. T.
“THINE EARS SHALL HEAR A WORD”
WHEN in perplexity concerning a moral duty, the temptation often comes to be governed by impressions; but God has not designed that His intelligent followers shall thus be left in uncertainty. An “impression” may direct us in a wrong path; but God’s plan is that “thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” Isa. 30: 21.
Note carefully what the text says: “Thine ears shall hear”—not impressions, but—“a word.” God speaks to His children in definite words, and those words are in His inspired book.
God is infinite in all His attributes; and He knew how, through the prophets of old, to inspire words that are just what we need to guide us definitely in all the perplexities that confront us in the complicated affairs of life. But if we are to be guided by words from God, we must go to His sacred book. All the words that He has placed in this world for the human family are in that volume. But the store is complete. There is nothing lacking.
If we are to be guided by that Word, we must know it for ourselves. We cannot depend upon the teachings or the sayings of another human being. We must go to the fountainhead. We must know the Word.
The reason why so many people are confused and do not know what to believe is because they are trusting to the imperfect teachings of men, and do not go to the great Book itself. God will instruct each individual that will follow His plan, and His plan is for us to study His book and know it personally for ourselves.
And how marvelous it is that in this time He has multiplied copies of His book in all the languages of the world, so that every individual may have it with him continually and study it and know it for Himself! “Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it.”
Yielding Ourselves to the Father
If we would only take the time to reflect upon our Father's love, what changes would be wrought in our lives! We could not be so ungrateful as to make any reserve in our devotion to Him. And when the Lord asks us to yield to Him fully, it is not that He may receive some selfish benefit, but that we may be brought back to the peaceable ways of righteousness and joy. And in changing our night into day, our mourning into gladness, our sin into righteousness, He finds His own infinite delight. It is worth our while to place what there is of us wholly in our Father's hands. It is base ingratitude not to do it.
Are We Frightened at the Thought?
By Mrs. C. V. Achenbach
He Is Our Friend—Why Then Should We Be Terrified? It Is a Grand Reunion
By Mrs. C. V. Achenbach
To many the thought of the coming of Christ brings only feelings of dread and fear. Often, when speaking of this event, we hear the remark, “Well, I hope He will not come in my day.” For the Christian, Christ’s coming should bring only feelings of joy; for our Lord is coming not as an enemy, but as a friend and Saviour.
The old heathen idea of God is that He is at enmity with mankind. Many acts of penance and self-torture are endured that the wrath of God may be appeased. This idea of God as a tyrant, seeking to wreak vengeance upon the world, still clings to many professed Christians.
A God Who Seeks to Win, Not to Terrify
Our God is a God of love. In giving Christ as a ransom for the world, He gave the best that Heaven could offer. The love, the compassion, the great longing in the heart of God for the salvation of the lost, culminated in the giving of His beloved Son. Jesus Himself, when here on earth, revealed the same tender, forgiving spirit. He healed the broken-hearted; He set at liberty the captives; He was a friend of sinners, saying in tender, comforting tones, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”
Heaven is not at enmity with humanity. The angels themselves are ministering spirits, encouraging, strengthening, and guarding those who shall be heirs of salvation. The Lord is seeking by every possible means to bring man back into fellowship with Himself. In Hinduism, man is continually seeking and aspiring after God; in Christianity, God is continually, by His mercy and love, seeking to draw man to Himself.
To the humble, trusting child of earth, there are offered boundless resources to help him in the struggle against evil. Not one who is thus trusting will be left alone in his conflict with the enemy.
The Friendship Here
This life is a preparation for the life beyond. Here on the enemy’s ground we are permitted to perfect a character to which will be given an entrance into the heavenly kingdom. It is while in this life that the friendship, the fellowship, between the human and the divine begins.
We have a wonderful example of this in the life of Enoch. The simple record reads: “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” Gen. 5:22. Paul says, “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death.” Heb. 11:5. With this servant of God there was no fear at the thought of being brought into the presence of Jehovah. Day after day, as the fellowship became more and more complete, Enoch’s faith was enabled to lay hold upon eternal realities, until the Lord rewarded it by taking him to Himself.
The privilege of thus walking with God is granted to every Christian; and to those who have this experience, the thought of beholding in person the One who has been their invisible companion each day of their lives, has no terrors. Jesus is their friend. He is coming to take them home to Himself. He is the One who has shed His own blood a ransom for them. In all their afflictions, He has been afflicted. In the hour of temptation, His still, small voice has said, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” In each step of life’s pathway, He has been a constant companion, guarding, upholding, and strengthening; and now, in His glorious person, He is coming to bring the reward to His faithful, obedient children.
The Reunion
To those who are at peace with Him, this event will be the fruition of all their hopes. Their weary years of waiting will be wondrously repaid. Their faithfulness, their obedience, their sacrifices, will be more than recompensed at the appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Fearful as are the events that take place in connection with the Lord’s coming, with confidence His people can look into His face. In tones of sweetest melody His voice will be heard proclaiming, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
It is the sinners in Zion who are afraid. It is those who have failed to make the needed preparation who have that “fearful looking for of judgment.” But the daily prayer of the one who is walking in constant communion with the Lord is, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
