The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1895-07-13

tenn, 10 write logical treatise on the
history 81 the human race and leave out
D.. nrist tne sun ~ righteousness.
Dil YOU notice IN the reading of the
.eront le.stl ihis morning y very sur
xestive statement ~ the fact that the
inscription on the cross was written IN
hrea Ian u4ges; fiehr~v Greek an
L,iinY Bear in mind that all gfea'
rents PREVIOUS 10 the cradle aud th
cross converged toward both. and NJ
aeat events " history since hav'
diverged from the cradle and the crvss
The cross is the verv heart Of the uni
verse, Il is the pivotal-point Of the
World; the cross IL the centre Of all pro
phecy. ~ all history. Of all civilizatin
aud OF all true Christianity Standing
NJ that cross we see all the great events
OF the universe revolving about 1t; some
nearer TO II. some further from u. bu'
all revolving with reference 10 IT, Eacn
language represents stream of civil
zation. Now Just go up these three
streams OF civilization and history, sug
gested by these three titles on
the cross. There is the Hebrew
stream carving YOU back to David,
20 Moses and to Adam; carrying
YOU hack to the wilderness, back to
Euypt. to Eden. for that stream began
in Eden. The Greek stream suggests to
us n history of literature. a history Of
armies. history OF stateau1en. and
takes us back to Athens with n popula.
tion not mnch larger than there is in
Honolulu. but a population that ruled
the world, and that rules the world
still. in many important respects. Fol
low the Latin stream and IL carries you
to Rome. with its tabled song AMI stury;
Rome that sat on her seven hills and
ruled the world. Aud all these streams
had their part IN the preparation Of the
world for Jesus Christ; they all con.
tribute1 to the setting up of his cross.
Each of these three great nations had a
part in the wise purpose and providence
of God in relation to man. The Hebrew
stood for religion; and this influence
comes from Eden to Calvary. The
Greek stood for culture Culture comes
from the academic groves TO the hill OF
Calvary. Rome stood for law, for
power. Law and power lay their
honors down at Calvary. All
had their part in the lmmed
late preparation of the world Tor the
coming of Christ. Marvellous is IL TO
study the history of the world in the
light of the cross There were the con-
quests Oh AltAtnutI tilt titdtt
spread the Greek language over great
sections of the East and prepared for
the gospel The time was ripe; the
nations were waiting for the gospel
thought TO he poured in the empty
moulds of Greek speech. IL was n
wonderful providence that the gospel
was written in Greek: the language of
culture and of the most perfect exact
ness known. The scattered fragments
of the Greek civilization were put to
gether into one great empire by the con-
quests of Rome, and Paul was enabled
to preach the gospel to the Romans by
declaring that he was Roman citizen.
The Romans built roads. They were the
greatest road builders of the world;
they built roads from one end
of the Empire to the other. There are
roads and walls in England and Scot
land that abide to this hour that the
Romans built They built these roads
in order that their Emperors and OH
GERS and Generals and Soldiers might
90 out for c inquest and lead back over
them their prisoners whom they had
secured. But God used these roads, 80
that the Apostles, whom he ordained
might spread the gospe with more
rapidity. Jesus is in the midst of his
tory. All philosophers OF history who
leave out Jesus Christ put out their own
eyes. Within recent times the phil
osophy OF history has been demon-
strat.d. Until the Reformation period
there WAS really 10 bi tory in the true
sense; there was a series OF annals, but
the thought has dawned upon the nind
of philosophical men and women that
there is philosophy of history. Only
as men caich that Thought ana push IL
tcanthey rightly see the Chrfst IN al
| the centtiries, in the great Christian
movements Of the race. This
same Christian truth is clearly
in current events. In the over.
turning of nations it is one OF the great
comforts to see Jesus in the midst o. all
events. sometimes hope that when
great war is over, war il 30, never t,
return. would like to have all the
nations of the earth chant the song tina,
the angels sang on the night that Christ
was born. Peace ON earth aud good
will towards men. But 1t still seems u
be part Of the divine plan that the
Prince of Peace is to lay the foundation
of the Empire on the ruins produ led by
the God of war. l have no doubt but
what all the conquests Of Great Britain
have been ruled by God, and the
triumph OF arms is for the spreading OF
the Glorious Gospel. This does not
mean that God endorses all
that men do, but IL does mean that God
overruleth all that men do for the good
of men and for his own glory n have
no doubt that the war between China
and Japan will be seen in the END Ia
contribute to this same result, and in