Middletown transcript. [volume] (Middletown, Del.) 1868-current, 1917-07-14
cont You Like Men,


Ward Beecher. There he cannonaded
every enemy of the nation. 1t stood
like fortress against disioyalty and
slavery and once upon time that pull
nit famed with the thunderbolts of
Beecher's eloquence all over England,
when the United States was in the
struggle for her existence? Mr.. Beech
er once said, IF you were to take the
Sermon on the Mount, as men are
made, and must be for generations to
come, and follow it literally, it would
bankrupt and revolutionize and destroy
the world -
The Sermon on the Mount was evil
IDENTIFY for the social and religious life
of individuals, between man and man,
and not between nation and nation.
1t was for evangelism, showing the
way to the salvation of each individual
soul, by love, brotherliness and the
spirit of forgiveness, but the Christ Of
God, as the judge of men and nations,
uses His might and power in forcing
evil away from His eternal dominions.
A nation acts upon wider plane than
an individual, and for longer period.
It has vaster responsibility in influ-
encing the entire race of mankin1.
1t was not for individual sins than
Israel was doomed as nation. 1t was
because of national public choice that
Christ was crucified, an effort to infiu-
ence the world of nations against Him.
The Jewish religion had become mass
of mere form and ceremony, descend
ing into the depths of hypocrisy and
hate of other people. The Prince of
Peace predicted their doom as nation
and made the wrath Of the Roman
nation to praise the government of the
Almighty.
The Allies are fighting, not only to
defend helpless, crushed nations, but
for the defense and development of
human rights everywhere and always,
80 that every individual can better
practise the Sermon on the Mount be-
tween each other and enjoy life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness. When
Americans saw liberty hanging in the
balance, they rushed to the rescue.
Capital punishment is not killing; it
Is putting to death in obedience to law,
principle as old as the Bible. Resist
ing by force of arms an army coming to
destroy you is not killing, but obeying
the inherent law Of self-defense, which
is as old as humanity. 1t is soldier,
doing his duty to his home, his country
and his God. Sin in the universe
necessitates force, for the devil knows
no law. Rule or ruin is his maxim. He
first struck at the throne of God and
now strikes at the throne of liberty.
Peace is pusllanimous when truth is
assailed, or when the honor and life of
apation, of home and family are in
danger by an army of beasts, inspired
by lust Of gain who are breathing out
fire, famine and sword. Destroying
such is saving the world from annihil
alton Supinely standing by and tick
ling the tiger with feather from the
dove of peace is the extreme of fool
hardness.
Peace on earth is to come when the
victory is won. There is mammoth
strife between warning nations, labor
and capital, between love and hate.
The tares and wheat grow together till
harvest. At the reaping time, peace
will come. During the battle, one may
be kept in perfect peace Of mind, while
the tumult RACES round him.
Our Lord could have saved Himself
from arrest on His awful night of
agony by calling for the hosts of His
angelic army. as He did when he de-
stroyed the Assyrians before Jerusalem,
but He was in the world to die for it,
and therefore permitted the devilish
mob to take Him to Calvary. He did
show His power by throwing the SOL
diers upon the ground before Him. He
saved others but could not save Him
self because dying was the way to save
others. He would have used force if
the worlds salvation depended on saw
ing Himself.
The American people were compelled
to enter this war as question of self
defense, or commit the chine of suicide.
We had to choose between fighting and
serfdom, just as the Allies did. We
had to pass by on the other side, like
the priest and Levite, Of peace, or be
the Good Samaritan, rescuing perish
ing nations lying mangled by the road
side of time. Christ said 81 came not
to send peace but a sword" But the
sword is not given to take Naboth' :
vineyard away from him, but to defend
the state from robbery and ruin.
1t is said that the clock of civilization
was stopped August LIST, 1914. Who
will set 1t going again? The liberty
loving nations of the world. As sure
as David slew Goliath, as sure as the
wheels of progress never roll backward,
as sure as truth crushed to earth will
rise again, we will win this war.
The sunrise of freedom burst on the
world when the Pilgrim Fathers landed
on Plymouth Rock Wycliffe, Huss and
Luther had beheld the morning beams