The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1916-04-19
PREPAREDNESS"
Sunday ls.

A Sermon Preached From the Pulpit Of the Fl
liams, Sunday Morning. April l6. 1916. Scri
Shall we prepare for war or shall
we not this is the paramount question
of the hour. To answer this question
intelligently must first find out wheth.
er or not war, wholesale slaughter, muir
der. is right and Of God. feel sure
that every real Christian wants to set,
tie this momentous problem before he
acts.
One writer, who came from the battle
field in France. said General Sherman
was right, War is hell" II he had
said that war is heaven l would have
some ground for believing that it is
of God. 1t matters not to whom you
speak of the present conflict. with one
accord they reply: awful, terrible
most cruel thing imaginable"
That we could for moment enter
tain this question proves that our ideas
of God are much distorted, for the
only logical Interpretation of such
words would be: Isn't God awful
terrible, cruel?" If God were like that
no one could love or honor Him. And
in comparing Him with Jesus Christ
there would be no likeness in
attributes or teachings, but the
opposite. But, praise God, ! am
glad can say to you this morn
ing that war is not in the heart OF
Jesus Christ for He came to show the
Father and do the works of the Faith
er and God is only seen by us in the
face OF Jesus Christ in whom Dwell
eth all the Godhead bodily" so that he
could say to Thomas HE that hath
seen me hath seen the Father" Jes-
ing and giving of life rather than its
destruction.
Neither is the awful conflict in which
are engaged the most of the nations OF
the earth, ordered by Him only in so far
as cause and effect are concerned. All
the wars OF Old Testament times came
about because of human conditions,
the nations reaping what they had
sown. The same memorable law ap-
plies to nations as to individuals, what
sOever q man sOWeth, that shall he al
so reap"
Suppose a man were to commit a
crime on our streets, the sheriff would
arrest him, the judge would condemn
dim and he would soon find himself
in prison for having broken our law.
Now who is to be blamed for this punish
ment? The Judge who sentenced him,
the sheriff who made the arrest, or
the man who broke the lew? There
is but one reply, the man who broke the
law is alone to blame for his punish.
ment; he is but reaping what he had
sowed. cause and effect-the law, the
sheriff, the Judge were right and good,
the man alone was wrong and bad.
Nations have been sowing the wind,
and now they are reaping the whiri-
wind. God, as judge, is simely letting
them reap the discord which their ar
rOgance and greed have caused theE.
to SOW. letting them punish one anoth'
err God is not and never has been a
murderer. but If the nations sow to
the wind they shall reap the whirl-
wind.
Christ said, There shall be wars
and rumors of war before the Son OF
man comes again." He said too that
they who resorted to the sword shall
perish by the sword. He knew hui
manity, its pride, its selfshness, its
Unsuitable greed. God is simply al
lowing the nations to mete out good
measure of punishment to each other
for the sins which they have commit
ted. both within and without their bor-
ders.
righteousness exalteth nation, but
oSv 60 ronr0Qrh tn 2nV npODIo.
God is in this war only as the judge
in working out the great principle
OF law, of cause and effect, of sowing
and reaping. The punishments they
are inflicting upon one another are IN
some cases for sins OF long standing
and of various kinds.
IfGod takes no account of how Eng
land for over 80 years forced the debas
ing, deadly poison, OPIUM upon poor
pagan China needless alike of the mis-
cry she was thus inflicting, the mem.
Orials to her from that government and
the pleas and entreaties Of all the mis-.
si0naries. England wanted market
for the tons Of opium produced on the
plantations of India and through her
omen port of HongkOng forced China
TO accept it, il say God takes no ac-
count OF this then God is not in this
war.
II God takes no account Of the treat
ment Russia has meted out to the Jews
and hears not the prayers OF thous-
ands exiled to cold barren Siberia for
no crime, then God is not in this war.
God has said of the Jew, ''That nation
and people which honor them l will
honor, and that nation and people who
curse them I will curse" The God
who numbers the hairs of our heads
has his eye on every despised son Of
Abraham and the day is coming when
he will bring them into their own land
for he has promised to gather them
out of every nation.
II God can forget the horrible, mer-
CHESS treatment Belgium has inflicted
on the natives of the rubber district
( OF the Congo who were intrusted to
their care, then God is not in this war
If God can forget or overlook all that
took place in the old French Bastile
and the infidelity. immortality and cruel
ty of her ruling classes, Ofothe past
as well as of the present, and the vice
Haunted svirtue of the present AMI
leove FRANCE unpublished, then God is
not in this war.