Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1914-07-03


truth in the earth are SO affected by
human governments that he is not only
a weak citizen but a weak Christian
who, making one in a republic, allows
himself to become Indifferent to its
administration.
There have been those who have be-
lieved this nation to be peculiar fa-
vorite of God. They have felt that
he led thither those who laid its foun-
dation> upon Plymouth Rock That
he nerved the hearts of their success
ors who cemented its masonry with
the blood Of Bunker Hill and York
town. They have felt, to change the
figure, that these mon sowed good
seed in this field, but while men slept,
while we have all been engrossed in
our schemes for wealth, an enemy
hath sowed tares. The situation to-
day is not the harvest our forefathers
would have wished. 1t is not the legit-
innate outcome of the Declaration OF
Independence.
]. One Of our political tares is the
peculiar tide Of immigration to our
shores, the character of which has
changed radically within a few years.
| Our first settlers had an inborn spirit
of freedom and past history of con-
| quest and success, and their immedi-
ate successors, though sometimes in
ferior in other respects, we're of kim
dred blood, and came from lands
where the spirit Of liberty and the po-
/ litical duties of the individual have
been cherished. They have thus been
easily assimilated and have helped to
build up the prosperity of the country.
But it is not so with reference to the
present immigrants, many Of whom
have been down-trodden politically,
and have no ideal of citizenship. We
1 should rejoice, indeed, at an oppor-
tunity to be blessing to them, but
4 we should not swallow more Of them
than we are able to digest. We should
| compel them to obey our laws; we
should not permit them to be natural
! lied until they have become Ameri-
canized; and all the while as Chris
tinns we should feel it our first duty
| that theykbe evangelized.
II. Another Of these "tares" is the
liquor traffic, lying as it does at the
center Of all political and social mis-
chief, and paralyzing energies in
every direction. THE responsibility
of Christian citizens lies In their will
ingness to permit it to exist, and worse
still to permit it to exist for con-
sideration! It is impossible to de-
stroy the appetite, but it is not Inn
possible to deny the opportunity to
4 crafty the appetite by law. Has not
the time come for Christians who
know the meaning of the Declaration
of independence. to say nothing Of
the Decalogue, to break the shackles
which bind them to social custom,
| to blind prejudice, or even to po-
litical party. in order to serve their
homes, their God and their native
land in driving this rum demon from
our shores?
III. Another Of these "tares" Is the
secuIarization of the Sabbath day
a growing tendency to change that
day from holy day into a holiday, to
convert it from a day of rest into a
day of labor, to neglect the public
worship of God, the sacred observance
of his laws for the sake Of social
pleasures and business gains.
Who is responsible for these things?
Gould secular enterprises prosper on
the Lords day If Christians frowned
upon them? And has not God con-
troversy with us for these things?
Will he not avenge himself on such q
nation as this? How can we have re-
i ligion without worship? And how can
we have worship without a Sabbath?
What can we do about these things?
(1) We can throw the weight Of our
example on the right side. We can
certainly do this so far as the keep
ing of the Sabbath is concerned, and
so far as the liquor traffic is con-
cerned. God would have saved Sodom
had there been ten righteous men in
that place. Little do we know how
his hand of judgment may even now
/ he withheld from the United States
because Of the God-fearing lives of a
small remnant.
(2l We may throw ballot on the
right side AS Joseph Cook once said:
The managing pOllIcldns care IOI
nothing but arithmetic and, therefore,
| one of our supreme duties is to stand
up, and stand together, and be count
ed" The powers that be are ordained
of God, and as Gods servants we are
/ to see that his will. and not the will Of
Satan, is carried out in the selection.
/ of them.
(3) There Is third thing we can
do. and that is pray. The effectual
fervent prayer of righteous man
availeth much. Remember Abra-
hams intercession for Sodom and Ne
heniah's for Jerusalem. But alas, how;
little do we pray for these things!
Alas for our patriotism when We are
besieging the throne of grace! May
God make us faithful in these things