The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-05-31

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al as to be con
vlncing. His text was "He maketh
wars to cease unto the end Of the
earth. = :" = Be still and know that
I am God."-Psalm 400, 10.
The Pastor declared that no
could be more averse to war, on gen.
eral principles, than himself. He de-
clared himself an extremist in his sen
timent for peace. Yet he could not
close his eyes to the facts Of history
that practically every blessing has
come to the world through war, at
the cost Of cruel bloodshed. Where
would America be today had there
been no Wal Of Independence? Where
would the nations Of Europe be today
if they had not fought to maintain
their national liberties? Where would
a refusal to fight land every nation in
less than a year?
There is no conflict between this par
ticular and commOn-sense view Of the
matter and the teachings Of our Mas
ter, said the Pastor. Our Master was
not addressing nations, but individuals,
when He directed that he who is smit-
ten on the one cheek should turn the
other, and be NONRESIDENT. The in
structions of Jesus were wholly and
solely intended for His disciples, His
followers. And they were instructed
that they should come out from the
world and be separate-a new nation,
n hn1u nation Thnr wora tn nvrna+ to
suffer persecution, even as did their
Teacher. They had His personal prom
Use that If they would thus suffer with
Him for righteousness sake, their re-.
ward would be by and by in the King
dom-then they should sit with Him in
His Throne.
Jesus gave His followers no assur-
ance that a peace policy would be sue
cessful and bring them earthly pros
perity. Quite to the contrary, the
Scriptures declare that whatsoever will
live cody shall suffer persecution-yes,
must expect to endure persecution, in
order to thereby have his loyalty to
God demonstrated prior to his accept
ance to the Throne of his Redeemer.
"If any man will be My disciple, let
him deny himself and take up his cross
and follow Me."-Matthew 1924.
The Beatitudes Not For Nations.
When Jesus said, BLESSED are the
peacemakers: for they shall be called
the children Of God" He was not ad-
dressing nations, but individuals-a
special class of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. who
would become His disciples by a full
announcement Of all earthly interests.
The Redeemer's declaration respecting
nations was the very reverse of His
statement respecting His followers.
He declared, Nation shall rise against
nation" and there shall be wars.-Mat-
thew 24:6, T..
I fear that I shall be misunderstood.
said the Pastor, but there is so much
confusion upon the subject that the
Truth needs to be stated plainly. And
/ know Of no place more appropriate
for it's statement than in this capital
of the most peace-loVing nation on
earth-next to China.
The truth is that war is not the dis,
ease, but merely a symptom Of the
disease in the body polite and in the
affairs Of earth. So long as the disease
continues, it's outward manifestation,
war, is bound to continue. Need | say
b you that the disease to which / re.
fer is sin? Sin and war are insepara-
BILE. There would be only two ways
Of inhibiting war:
Cd BY converting the world Of ma.
lions from a condition Of hardness OF
heart, selfshness. sin, to, a condition OF
righteousness. tenderness of heart, gen.
srosity; or,
(2) BY the establishment of a gov.
eminent, or power not swayed by sin
to supervise, oyerrule and control the
AFFAIRS of the sinners by superior
strength. Is this proposition debat
able? asked the Pastor. He answered
that Ii is not. Its basic facts are. he
claimed. as sure as mathematics, as
certain as that two and two make
four. He cited various Scriptures
eorroborating this, his position, an(
showing that sin, s~elfishness, is contin
aally on the warpath, either political
ly, socially or financially.
The battle, he declared, has been go
ing ON ever since man became a sin
aer. AT one time this s~elfishness mani
tested itself Id buccaneerlng. piracy
slavery. AT another time polio
changed and the leaders or men pei
eeived that they could accomplis
more by milder methods, along th
lines Of politics and ecclesiasticisn
Again conditions changed, and th
wise perceived that with the comm
Of mechanical Inventions into th
worlds affairs human slavery woul
be Improbable, and that coul
be accomplished with less responsible
ity by setting the slaves free, an
making them work for their own II,
Ing in competition with machinery.
Next came the era OF financial con
bination, giant trusts and corporation
s~controlling the destinies OF the huma
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