Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-03-28

be the forerunners of the kingdom of
the prince of peace: Nation shall rise
against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom; and great earthquakes shall
be in divers places, and famines and
pestilences; upon the earth distress of
nations, with perplexity; the sea and
the waves roaring; mems hearts failing
them for fear, and for docking after
those things which are coming on the
earth; for the powers Of heaven shall be
shaken. And then shall they see the
son Of man coming in a cloud with
power and great glory"
The lesson has been taught by his
tory that the world may be stirred and
distressed in this way, without an actual
end coming to it. And vet, there have
been wars and connections, which, al
though they have not brought the visi-
BILE coming of Christ on the clouds of
glory, nevertheless have SO wiped off
the black stains from nations life and
opened mems eyes to q fairer vision of
mercy and humanity that, in a real and
vivid sense, they are forerunners Of a
new reign Of the bright and morning
star In the dark skies OF this world.
Compare for a moment our own civil
war with the attitude of Europe during
the massacre Of Sc, 900 Armenians in the
years 1894-96.
In the one case, there is not only ru-
NOR of war, but war itself-bloody and
swift, all the flercer and more terrible
because fought by brother against
brother; in the other case is peace" il
such a fair name can be applied to the
heavy sleep of an armed world that let
the cries OF helpless martyrs ring from
the hills and plains and from the de-
filed homes and churches OF Armenia,
and answered that after having care
fully balanced the harm that was being
done by unaVenged murder and orgies
of gleeful and unrebuked lust, 1t believed
that 1t is not so grave as European
war might be, which might be aroused
by interfering with the affairs Of other
nations, and fouling ones hands by
touching that blood-Stained source OF
ontention-Turkey.
Which Is more perfectly the sign OF
new coming of the prince Of peace to
his world, that war that freed slaves,
though 1t bequeathed to history the
memory Of even such bloody battlefelds
as spread between Chickamauga and
Gettysburg, or the peace that saved
British warships few holes in the ar
NOR plates and Germany a million
left the Kurds to loot and burn the vii
lages of Armenia from Diarbekr to Sas-
soon a usual incident of which was the
shutting up of the women in
the churches and then turning the att
tacking soldiery in with them to defile
and then destroy them? Might it not
be well that some one coming in as
stranger to one Of our churches on this
morning Of Passion Sunday, would sup
pose that our second morning lesson
from st. Luke was chosen with special
reference to the situation today in the
outward world? All these references
to wars and connections, nation rising
against nation, mems hearts failing
them for fear, famine and pestilences
in divers places-distress Of nations with
perplexity-how well the words describe
these days OF the year 1898 from the west
all round the world to the far east! And
yet today's lessons from the Bible were.
selected many years ago. Perhaps We
shall come back to that old fashioned
idea that God himself has hand in
these things, and that he has something
to teach US today in this 21st chapter
Of ST. Luke.
Christ describes these signs of his
coming by the parable of the fig-tree and
all the trees-"When they now shoot
forth. ye see and know of your own
selves that summer is now nigh at
hand So likewise, ye, when ye see
these things come to pass know ye that
the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
Here again the outward world of ma
tJlre and the inner world Of spiritual
things correspond, because both were
made and are governed by one and the
same God.
If we can thus read the signs of sum
mer in the buds of spring-time, why do
we not, Christ asks US, more surely read
what the wilder, hercer signs of tumult
and preparation for sterner things than
flowers and sunshine foretell? The great
tree Of the world, the branches Of which
are the nations and the peoples, is put
ting forth the prophecies of coming
events. Instead of the soft buds o.
maple, elm and birch, that tree bears
the bristling LEAKAGE OF sword and cut
lass, and for fruit, shot and shell weigh
its branches heavily down. Can thesf
be signs that Christ Is coming closer tc
his world In the weeks and months thai
lie before us? Perhaps no open breal
between nation and nation will come
but there is a land near our own shore.
to which at any rate our readiness fol
war may bring the vision of his coming
which has long been waited for in an 4
guish and suspense. We have prayef
today for peace and we meant what A
said, but the words ringing in our earssI
from today's lesson-"And great earth
quakes shall be in divers places ant
famines and pestilene es,s Ought t