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psojphvThe Kingdom That Changed Rulers.

 

ANNUAL SERMON

PREACHED AT THE TWELFTH ANNUAL CONVENTION
OF THE BAPTIST YOUNG PEOPLE’S
UNION OF AMERICA IN

Providence, R. I, July 13, 1902.

BY

 

Prof. Galusha Anderson, S. T. D., LL. D.

Of The University of Chicago.

 

PRINTED BY
THE BAPTIST YOUNG PEOP:E’S UNION OF AM RICA,- “SUBJECT:

The Kingdom That Changed Rulers.

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Text: Rev. 11:15. The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom
of our Lord, and of His Christ.

The very word, king, may be repulsive to you. Its history suggests
personal, arbitrary power. But we cannot forget, that both in the Old
and New Testaments, God, and God in Christ, is called a king; and if we
could divest this term of every suggestion of injustice and tyranny, it would
no longer repel us.

Now, the King presented to us in the Scriptures is infinitely wise,
and in the administration of his government makes no mistakes. He is
absolutely righteous, and always does what is right. He is the embodi-
ment of love and sympathy, and so perfectly identifies himself with his
subjects that whatever is done to them he regards as done to himself.
If we clothe them, we clothe him; if we feed them, we feed him; if we visit
them in prison, we visit him; if we shelter them under our roof, we shelter
him: if we do despite to them, we do despite to him. Such a king, instead
of being repulsive, is inconceivably attractive.

In the text his kingdom is declared to be this world. By the world
is here meant our race in its totality. Once it was under the control of
the evil one; but it was delivered from his malign sway, and became the
kingdom of our Lord, of God our Father, and of his Christ—his Anointed
One.

There are two interpretations of the text. Some hold that it refers to
the close of the present dispensation. At that time the battles of the church
will have been all fought out, its final victory will have been won. Then,
and not till then, “great voices in heaven” shall proclaim, “The kingdom
of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ.”

Others maintain that when John heard these words on Patmos, the
kingdom of this world had already changed rulers; and this contention
is sustained by Christ’s declaration just before his crucifixion. Speaking,
as though the agonies of the cross were already passed, and his triumph
assured, he says, “Now is the judgment,” the condemnation, “of this world;
now shall the prince of this world be cast out’—out of the hearts of men,
out of his throne and kingdom. He shall be no longer the ruler of our
race. And when, on his cross, Jesus said, “It is finished,’ the world changed
rulers. From the fall till that hour, taken as a whole, it had been con-

sei,trolled by the evil one; then, delivered from his grasp by the finished
work of the Crucified, it became the everlasting kingdom of our Lord.
And this interpretation is buttressed by the declaration of Paul, “He must
reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet’—that is, he reigns now,
and will continue so to do till all that oppose him shall acknowledge his
rightful sway.

That he began to rule this world at the time of his death and resur:
rection, we have abundant proof. Society began at once to be lifted up to
a higher moral level. New and purer currents of thought were set in
motion. Men began to be valued as never before. The ancient idea of the
state was soon replaced by the modern and Christian notion of it. Accord-
ing to the ancient idea the power of the state was centralized in the king
or emperor; now that Jesus had taught the preéminent dignity and worth
of man, men began to conceive that the power of the state was in the hands
of the people. Men no longer existed simply to serve the state, but the
state was to serve them. Government was no longer of the king, and by
the king, and for the king, but under Christ’s reign it became of the people,
by the people, and for the people.

Men also began to think new thoughts about enslaving human beings.
Since man as such was of transcendent worth, since Christ came from
heaven to save him and died to redeem him, since he was a child of God
and a brother, he could not rightfully be made the chattel and slave of
another. So, surrounded by multitudes of bondmen, the Christian slave-
holder, unsolicited, spontaneously and voluntarily, impelled by the inherent
force of the spirit that Christ had implanted within him, manumitted
his slaves.

Men, too, under the kingship of Christ, began to be swayed by thoughts
radically new and vital toward the weak, the unfortunate and helpless.
Puny and deformed children that had been exposed in the fields to die
unpitied and unwept because they were considered valueless to the state,
were now gathered into asylums and tenderly nursed and trained. This
Christly benevolence began to touch and to control with its subtle, invisible
energy, even the thinking and acts of the best heathen; so that Trajan
established a fund for the maintenance of’pcebdr‘girls and boys. This fund
was augmented by Antoninus Pius and Mareus Aurelius, and the latter put
these endowments under the charge of consular officers. He wrote to his
friend Fronto of his happiness in the health of his little girls, and Fronto
in turn sends kisses “to their fat little toes and tiny hands.” Thus early in
the history of Christianity, Christ as king of this world was ruling in the
minds and hearts alike of Christians and heathen, and causing even the
Roman emperors, who persecuted his church, unwittingly to serve it. And
myriads of facts besides these attest the truth that at the cross and the
empty tomb this world became the kingdom of our Lord.

But while it passed under his rightful authority, at first there were com-
paratively few who acknowledged allegiance to him. The world assumed
an attitude toward his authority like that of the Philippines toward the
United States. Without any design on our part, in the inexplicable provi-
dence of God, those islands came into our possession. They were ceded to

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us by solemn treaty, and treaties belong to the ground law of the Republic.
That no possible injustice might be done to the former holder of them, with
whom we had been justly at war, we paid for them twenty millions of dol-
lars. They became ours both by treaty and purchase. A few of the inhab-
itants at once gladly submitted to our authority. The number acknowledg-
ing allegiance to the United States has so steadily and rapidly increased,
that on the fourth of this month, the President issued a proclamation, de-
claring a state of peace in all the islands but one, and that civil government
was established. The army in the islands, now being rapidly decreased,
falls into the background, its power henceforth to be called into requisition
only in certain exigencies to enforce the laws of the civil government.

In like manner this world became Christ’s through the solemn promise of
the Father, who said to his Son, “Ask of me, and I will give thee the na-
tions for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy pos-
session.” But what was thus given to him he bought with his own blood.
The world became his by covenant and by purchase. Some at once gave to
him glad submission. As the centuries have come and gone vast multitudes
have joyfully hailed him as their divine King. To-day on earth hundreds of
millions exultingly follow “his blood-red banner,” and in heaven an innumer-
able throng cast their crowns at his feet; and the day will soon dawn, when
to him “every knee shall bow” and “every tongue shall confess that he is
Lord.”

But how can those who still refuse to submit to his sway be brought to
render him allegiance? Not by outward physical force. You cannot compel
men to enthrone Christ within their hearts. We speak reverently, God him-
self cannot do that; for there are some things that even he cannot do. He
cannot lie; and having established a law, he cannot consistently with his
moral being disregard it. He has given to every man the power of choice.
Each for himself is called upon freely to determine who shall be his king,
Christ or the devil. This freedom of choice is one of God’s laws, imbedded
in man’s moral nature, and rather than obstruct its action by even the
weight of a hair, he will permit every man to be led captive by the god of
this world. And if God cannot by force compel men to do him homage, of
course we cannot. And+whereyer Christian men, invoking the power of the
state to enforce their willf hdy¥e attempted it, they have disastrously failed.
“The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but,” blessed be his name,
“are mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds.” We fight by
simply proclaiming the truth of the gospel. Our sword is the sword of the
Spirit, the word of God. We smite not in hate, but in love; not to kill, but
to save; not to override reason and will, but to lead men freely and heartily
to choose Christ as their king. This is Jesus’ way. In the supreme hour
of his earthly career the Roman governor asked him, “‘Art thou a king then?”
and Jesus answered, “Thou sayest that I am a king.” It was equivalent to
saying in our tongue, “Yes, I am a king. But I am not a king like the em-
peror whom you represent. I have no constabulary or armies to enforce my
decrees. I have no money like earthly rulers. The foxes have holes, the
Bess of the air have nests; but I have not where to lay my head; still I ama
king, and rule not by carnal weapons but by the truth.” “To this end have

pe ANSI been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear
witness unto the truth.” In the Revelation, Christ is presented to us in his
glory. He has “a sharp two-edged sword,” but that sword goes “out of his
mouth.” He smites the nations, but it is “with the breath of his ips. Te
is, then, by bearing witness to the truth, by simply proclaiming the word
of God, which is “sharper than any two-edged sword,” that the allegiance
of men to Christ is secured.

From this it follows that the supreme duty of all believers in Christ
is to proclaim the truth of the gospel to the whole race. Christ himself
made this his pre-eminent work. He declared that he “‘came to seek and to
Save that which was lost.” This explains every act of his that pertained
to our race. To win those that were lost he emptied himself; laid aside his
crown and scepter and glory; took upon himself the nature of those that he
came to redeem; suffered for them the most disgraceful of all deaths; rose
victorious over the grave; ascended to heaven, and poured out his Spirit on
all flesh. He revealed to men the great loving heart of God,—made known
to them his willingness to forgive and save. During his earthly ministry,
by precept, parable and miracle, he persistently proclaimed these glad tidings,
and sealed his testimony with his blood. Every word and act was an expres-
sion of his love. He said, “Come,” with such ineffable tenderness, that the
multitude gathered entranced about him. And he did it all just to lead men
to submit gladly to their rightful Lord and King. As that was his supreme
work, it is also ours. We, as his children, are united to him. We enter
into his plans; we think his thoughts; we live his life; we strive for that for
which he strove; as the Father sent him, he sends us. By lip and life, our
Supreme work, like the Master’s, is to lead men everywhere to yield them-
selves to their divine King.

Also by direct, explicit command he made this our first and preéminent
duty. He had risen from the dead. He was about to leave his disciples, and
take his seat at the right hand of God in heaven. But before he re-
sumed that glory which he had with the Father before the world was,
he gathered around him, on some mountain in Galilee, above five hundred
of his disciples, and declaring that all authority in heaven and earth had
been given unto him, he bade them go “and make disciples of all the nations,”
organize them into churches by “baptizing them into the name of the Fathe.
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,’ and train them for service by
“teaching them to observe all things whatsoever” he had commanded them.
These were the most weighty of his farewell words; as if he would say to
them, “Be certain now and remember that your distinctive mission is
to lead all men to sit as humble learners at the feet of their divine
Master.”

That this is our chief duty is clear from its reflex influence upon us. By
its faithful performance the Christian worker secures for himself the largest
development of character. By saving others, he saves himself. By persist-
ently doing this primal, indispensable work, he who has been justified
through faith in Jesus Christ becomes more and more sanctified. You can
never secure sanctification, holiness, just by thinking about it. Those who
give themselves up simply to meditation and theorizing on the doctrine of

ee:sanctification are apt to float off into mysticism. They become impractical,
living in clouds, reposing self-satisfied in dreamland. Waked out of their
reveries, they often show themselves to be uncharitable and intolerant.
Jostle them, and like the porcupine they bristle with piercing quills. Some
of them will not permit the unconverted to be present in their meetings,
lest their immaculateness should be stained by the world. From such so-
called sanctification may the Lord graciously save you! Now the tap-root
of sin is selfishness. When, therefore, forgetful of self, you in love lay hold
of all classes of men, the world over, that you may bring them into fellow-
ship with God, you are withering the nethermost root of sin within you. By
doing such a work for men, you are becoming like your Lord; and to be like
him is to be sanctified.

The work of winning men to Christ also constantly strengthens the in-
dividual Christian graces. Like all our powers they grow by being exer-
cised. It may sometimes be difficult to exercise the chief grace, love. Men
have been distorted by sin, and there is much in them that is unlovely and
repulsive. But beneath all that repels us there are souls of infinite worth
and boundless possibilities. And if, ignoring the demands of fastidious self,
in spite of all that is outwardly repugnant, we labor to save them, our feeble
love for them will speedily take on fresh power. And we shall find that love
waxes mighty by loving.

So is it also with faith that works by love. When striving to save men,
we are confronted with worldliness and indifference, and must walk by
faith, if we walk at all. We seem to be shut in by unyielding walls of
granite. We must preach and pray, unaided by sight, trusting alone in the
God who has promised that we shall not toil in vain. Faith, put to a test so
sharp, if it does not falter, grows in might, until unbelief and indifference,
more impregnable than adamant, give way before it. So hope, which is
confident expectation of blessing, always waxes strong by use. Genuine
Christian workers are always hopeful. It is the do-nothings in the churches
that are afflicted with the “doleful dumps.”

But the work of bringing men into submission to Christ not only de-
velops and sanctifies the individual believer, but also builds up churches
both in piety and numbers. The growth of churches has always been just in
proportion to their missionary activity. This is so obvious to all that it
needs no proof nor illustration.

It is, then, abundantly clear that the supreme work of all true believers
is to bring men everywhere to acknowledge their allegiance to their divine
King. This was Christ’s preéminent work; hence it is ours. He also made
it ours by explicit command; and only by doing it can the spiritual growth
both of the individual and of the church be secured.

But what are the motives that impel us to do it? Briefly, these: Our
fellowmen are lost. They were made to live in fellowship with God, but
have been separated from him by their sin. Full of unrest they wander
He and farther from him, and are ever sinking deeper and deeper in
ay Wretched themselves, they make others wretched also. Their habita-
tions have becom the habitations of cruelty. Unless they are won to Christ,
they will sink in eternal rayless night. It was this that touched the heart

geeof God, so that he bowed the heavens and came down in the person of his
Son, that he might save the lost.

Moreover, these lost millions of the earth, however degraded, are Christ’s
brethren and ours, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, blood of our blood;
like us made in the image of God; and Christ says, “whatever ye do to the
least of these, my brethren, ye do it unto me.”

But the mightiest motive urging us to do all in our power to win them
to God is the astounding fact that Christ out of his self-sacrificing love died
for them. Shall we not put forth our utmost endeavor to rescue those whose
Salvation was made possible only at such infinite cost? If we are one with
Christ, can we fail to proclaim his love and grace to all those whom he has
bought with his blood? In Chicago, a few months ago, two little daughters
of a widow woman who lived near a railroad, in their play, all unconscious
of danger, had seated themselves between the rails of the road-bed. The
mother saw them just as her ear caught the ominous sound of the on-rushing
express. She ran for their rescue. She threw one beyond the rails on one
side, the other on the other, but the engine ran over her crushing out her life.
The deepest, tenderest pity stirred the hearts of all. There was nothing that
the neighbors were not ready to do for those orphaned girls. With stream-
ing eyes they said, ‘Their mother died for them.” Oh! these unsaved multi-
tudes of the earth are God’s children. Christ died for them. Is there any-
thing that we will refuse to do in order that we may save them from sin
and death?

But can those who are loyal to Christ preach his gospel to all men?
Why not? To a little more than five hundred disciples in Galilee, he said,
“Go and make disciples of all the nations.” The obstacles in the way of
obeying that command were more formidable then than now. To be sure
the race was then less numerous, but Christianity was new and untried.
Those who followed Christ as their King were looked upon as simply a
fanatical, contemptible, Jewish sect. Still later the great Apostle to the
Gentiles said that he and his brethren were regarded as the offscouring of
the world. Learning, and philosophy, and law, and government were all ar-
rayed in solid phalanx against them. Christ knowing perfectly the opposi-
tion which would everywhere confront his disciples, said, “Go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Going out as sheep among
wolves, they obeyed their King. What was the result? Many of the red-
handed murderers of Christ at Jerusalem, bowed before him as their glori-
fied Lord. In almost every city of the Roman empire men became loyal
subjects of the divine King. Rome itself felt his power, and from the royal
household of Cesar men gathered around his standard. But now, although
the human race is greater in number, Christianity has been consecrated and
crowned with a thousand brilliant triumphs. She is the mother of all that
is noblest and purest and best in the civilization of the nations. Vast multi-
tudes both on earth and in heaven honor Christ as their King, and in turn,
just because they bear the name of Christ, are honored by their fellow-
men. The conditions for preaching the gospel of Christ are everywhere
favorable. If in the most discouraging circumstances Jesus with wisdom
could say to a little more than five hundred, “Go and make disciples of all

pethe nations,” he, with perfect reasonableness could now look in the face the
two hundred thousand young men and women of this Union, and say, “Go
and make disciples of all the nations.” And if you should obey with alacrity
and earnestness, girded by his “To-I-am-with-you-alway,” if there were not
another Christian on earth, in due time success would perch on your banner.

Let us see, at all events, whether it is not wholly within the bounds
of reason that the millions of believers, now on the earth, could in a short
time preach the gospel to every individual of our race. There are, we are
told, about ten hundred millions of heathen. There may be more, there may
be less. On the other hand statisticians tell us that there are four hundred
millions of Christians. But you object that multitudes of these are
Christians merely in name. Well divide the number by two, and we have
two hundred million. But you urge again that hosts of these are formalists,
with little or no spiritual life. Very well, divide by two once more, and we
have one hundred million. These are real, living Christians. But, you ob-
ject, that many of them are children and feeble women who can give but
little, and are quite incapable of rendering effective, personal service. Then
divide again by two, and we have left fifty million that can come and go,
and give and work.

But the last fifty million that we struck off is after all a great, effective
force. Poor it may be in money; but in proportion to their means the
poor give more than the rich. Moreover, while poor in this world’s goods
they are rich in faith and mighty in prayer,—and prayer is an indispensable
factor in saving the world. Once when Finney preached for a few weeks
in Rochester, a Christian brother, unable through diffidence to speak to the
people, but mighty in faith and in intercession, remained at the hotel to
pray in secret, while the great evangelist spoke to the throngs that gathered
to hear him. Many turned unto God, and the mighty preacher attributed
the gracious result largely to the diffident brother, who pleaded where
none but God heard for the salvation of those who listened at the church to
the spoken word. So these fifty millions set aside by us because they are
poor and feeble, may wield the weapon of prayer,—the most effective of all
weapons in subduing the world to Christ.

But all of you will admit that there are on this earth at least fifty mil-
lions of Christians that are able to do aggressive, efficient work. Divide the
ten hundred millions of heathen by fifty million and the quotient is twenty.
Cannot one Christian preach the gospel to twenty heathen? But, you say,
that they are on the other side of the globe. True, but cannot two thousand
of you unite in sending one to preach the gospel to forty thousand? Or
five thousand unite in sending one to preach Christ to one hundred thousand?
This is unquestionably feasible. This Union with its two hundred thousand
members could put into the foreign mission field forty missionaries. The
Epworth League, on the same basis, could send and support three hundred,
and, at a conservative estimate, the United Society of Christian Endeavor
could send five hundred missionaries to preach the gospel to the heathen. If
this should be done, as it easily might be, by these young people’s societies,
it would wake up all Christendom to the supreme work of saving the whole
world. And if each five thousand of the fifty millions of effective Christian

en Beworkers should send one missionary, every one hundred thousand of the
ten hundred millions of heathen would have one earnest Christian to preach
to them the glad tidings of salvation from sin and death. Soon in every mis-
sion field men would be brought to God, and they in turn would become
preachers to their own countrymen; so that throughout the whole world the
evangelizing force would be rapidly and mightily augmented.

But have we the men and women who are capable of doing this work?
Christianity is the mother of education. The Church, wherever it has gotten
a foothold, has given birth to the school. Christian nations abound in insti-
tutions of learning, public and private; are prolific in common schools,
academies, colleges, seminaries and universities. Every year there are
graduated from these schools hundreds of young men and women, who have
given themselves to Christ, and are ready to obey his call to any service
demanded by him on the face of the globe. This statement is abundantly
verified and reénforced by the student Volunteer movement. So there is no
lack of consecrated workers.

But such enterprises as this cannot be successfully prosecuted without
money. Have Christians sufficient money for this work? Christian nations
are the wealthiest on the earth. Christianity uproots bad and costly habits,
and replaces them with habits of temperance, frugality and industry. Under
its influence poverty largely disappears, and material resources accumulate.
So it has come to pass that Christian nations own vastly more agricultural
implements, manufacturing machinery, railroads, telegraph lines, ships,
ocean cables and banks, than all the heathen nations combined. Before our
eyes the words of Jesus are being fulfilled, “The meek shall inherit the
earth.” So these fifty millions of Christians have money enough to plant
and maintain missions in every nation and province of the heathen world.

Now let us narrow our vision, and for a moment contemplate only the
Baptists of these northern states. There are about eight hundred thousand
of them; there may be more, there can scarcely be less. But, you say, many
of them are poor, and are quite unable to give more than a pittance. Grant
it, and cut down the number to five hundred thousand. These certainly are
fully up to the average in wealth. In our republic at the present time, if
its wealth were equally distributed, each million of inhabitants would own
more than a billion of property. We will say, however, only a billion. Then
these five hundred thousand Baptists have five hundred million dollars’
worth of property. We know that this is safely within the truth. There
are one or two Baptists who probably own more than that. Now if these
five hundred thousand Baptists should give one per cent. per annum on five
hundred millions,—and they have more property than that,- we would have
five millions of dollars for missions at home and abroad. If they should give
one-half of one per cent., we would have two millions five hundred thousand
dollars; if they should give one-quarter of one per cent., we would have one
million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. But the sad fact remains
that they do not give for home and foreign missions, through our national
societies, even one-quarter of one per cent. on the property of which God has
made them stewards.

We have, then, both the requisite workers, and the money for preaching

sorsthe gospel to the whole world. What is lacking? Consecration? We ought
to have more. Do we lack organization? No, but we are not yet specially
organized to carry out the great commission. Only a few of the church up
to the present hour have been really devoted to this primal Christian duty.
When God revives his work, and the laymen in all our churches begin to
feel that they, as well as their ministers, are called upon to disciple all the
nations of the earth, we shall have somewhere, in Europe or America, an-
other great Ecumenical Missionary Conference. Christians, without respect
to nationality or denomination, will be there. There will be a larger number
of laymen than there were in the Conference at New York. The rich
Christian business men, who have the ability to inaugurate and triumphantly
carry forward to completion great financial enterprises, will be there. They
will say to each other, “The Lord our King, to whose will we bow, centuries
ago said to his followers, ‘Go, and make disciples of all nations,’ and his
command has never been fully obeyed. Let us try now to do his bidding.
All that we have and are is from this time henceforth devoted to this su-
preme work.” Then they will proceed to map out the whole earth, and to
each denomination, according to its resources, will be assigned certain terri-
tory; and without delay provision will be made for preaching the gospel to
all the inhabitants of our globe. It will be a general movement. The whole
“sacramental host of God’s elect” will be engaged in it. The time, the talent,
the money, not of a few, but of the whole church, will be consecrated to it.
In twenty or twenty-five years every one of our race will have heard the
glad tidings of salvation, and will have been urged to give his allegiance
to our King. Do you say that the preaching of the gospel to every person on
earth is a dream? It is the dream of our Lord. It will in his own good
time become a glorious reality.

Are there any evidences of its realization? Yes, many and convincing.
In the days of my boyhood, I used often to hear at the time of family prayer
and in the churches the earnest petition, that God would open the doors
of the nations to Christian missionaries. Those prayers are now answered.
All governmental opposition to the gospel has been removed, and every door
now stands wide open. Moreover, by steamships and ocean cables all the
nations of the earth have been pressed so close together that they feel
the beating of each other’s hearts. We daily read, with ever-increasing in-
terest, the telegraphic reports of the principal events transpiring among
other peoples. We watch by means of electric flashes the progress of mili-
tary campaigns, or the deathly devastations of famine and pestilence on the
other side of the globe. We begin to see that each event makes for the
weal or woe of the entire race; that from this time henceforth no nation like
China or the United States can shut itself up in selfish isolation; that the
great problems of statesmanship are worldwide, and every nation, if it be
worthy of perpetuity, must share in their solution. God in his providence is
driving down deep into the consciousness of the nations the sense of uni-
versal brotherhood. At last the truth of Paul’s declaration on Mars’ ET:
that God has “made of one blood every nation of men for to dwell on all the
face of the earth,” is rising unclouded upon the vision of mankind.

Nor can we forget, in our survey of the proofs that the reign of Jesus

SpekChrist will eventually, if not speedily, prevail, that modern missions, though
prosecuted with scanty means and in the face of stubborn opposition, have
been wonderfully successful. On foreign mission fields, especially of our
own denomination, Pentecost has again and again been far outdone. But
this period, stretching over only a few decades, has been only a sowing time. _ But
not a seed planted in faith will remain unfruitful. And if even while we have been
sowing, the fruitage has been so abundant, what will the full, golden harvest be?
But our progress thus far has not been simply in seed sown and souls
saved, but also in the silent, unobserved, yet real and effective control ac-
quired over the thinking of men who have refused to follow Christ as their
Saviour and King. Unwittingly they have been swayed and mastered by him.
A distinguished Hindu, not a Christian, has said that the whole thought of
his people, though they still reject the gospel, has been changed by it and
directed into new channels; and thus, unnoted there has been laid within
their minds the foundation of a purer, higher civilization. So hosts of un-
believers in our own land are unconsciously molded and controlled by the
truth of the gospel. Robert Ingersoll, a few years ago, gave to the people
of Chicago his creed. Robert Burdette, then the editor of the Burlington
Hawkeye, printed it in his paper, and in a parallel column quoted passages
of Scripture containing the identical thoughts expressed in the articles of
the atheist’s creed. “Long ago, Bob,” he asserted, “Isaiah said this, and
Paul that, and Moses that, and Christ that,’ in each instance quoting the
words of the Biblical writer referred to, showing how the brilliant skeptic
had all unconsciously drawn his creed from the Bible that he so constantly
and bitterly ridiculed. But there was one article in that creed for which
no parallel was found in Scripture. Ingersoll declared in that article that
nations were pious in proportion to their primitiveness; and opposite that
Burdette said, “Just so, Bob; the North American Indians, for instance.’
The atmosphere created by the Bible, and especially by the words of
Christ, encompasses and pervades all minds and hearts. Men both in heathen
and in Christian lands are imperceptibly touched and swayed by him to
whom the kingdom of this world now rightfully belongs. Almost everybody
now is discussing Christ; some with friendly, some with hostile intent; but
in both friendly and hostile camps he is alike persistently praised. He elicits
general admiration and touches the deepest springs of human thought. This
is the precursor of his absolute triumph. Those who get into contact with
him, he is sure to conquer. Those who have lived in ignorance of him, at
first touch seem to yield to his power. A few years ago, in London, the
dock hands on the Thames struck for higher wages, and a great crowd of
them gathered in Regent’s Park. An intelligent Christian laborer,
haranguing them, told them how the man of Nazareth had spoken of the
earth’s toilers, and what he would say if he were now present. They listened
in breathless silence, and when he had finished his speech, a burly laborer
mounted a bench and said to the discontented multitude, “I never before
heard of the Man of Nazareth, but if that’s the way he talks, three cheers
for the Man of Nazareth.” And they were given with hearty good-will.
The trend toward victory is also revealed by the modern attitude of
skepticism. It has largely lost its former harshness and bitterness. Some-

aething of the love of Christ has touched and softened it. In many instances
it is at least outwardly pious. It quotes Scripture, even if it sometimes per-
verts it. It prays. At all events it often recites the Lord’s Prayer. It com-
ments with emphasis on the phrase “Our Father,” and criticises Christians
for their low and unworthy views of God. It is clear that if skeptics are
not submitting to our divine King, they are at least making obeisance.
And now, keeping in view the great multitudes that have already
openly ranged themselves under the leadership of Christ, and the firm grasp
that he has laid upon the subtle but mighty forces of thought throughout
the world, do not fail to notice how strategically missions have been planted
for the subjection of heathenism. If you take a missionary map of Asia or
Africa, you will see that Christian missions dot the coast-lines of these
continents, and have been scattered along the banks of their greatest rivers,
and on the shores of their great lakes. These missions have been started
and maintained by many different religious denominations, without any col-
lusion with each other. But he to whom the kingdom of this world belongs
has, by unerring wisdom, directed all these movements. It is his campaign.
And from the coasts of the oceans, the banks of fructifying rivers and the
shores of shining lakes, these divisions of his mighty army, bearing high in
front the cross, the sign by which they conquer, shall soon move in upon
heathenism and overcome it by winning it to glad allegiance to our King.
Then, when this conquest is made, what? Universal love will take the
place of selfishness. What an absolute revolution that will be! There will
be no more family quarrels, of which selfishness is always the root; but
each one of the household will strive by constant acts of disinterested love
to serve all the rest. Neighborhood feuds will be banished from the earth,
since each member of the community will seek not his own aggrandisement
and glory, but the highest good and the greatest happiness of all those
among whom he dwells. Then, also, the most abhorrent of all conflicts,
a church quarrel, malignant strife among the followers of the Prince of
Peace, will forever have passed away. Each member of the church will
then carry out the apostolical injunction, “not looking each of you to his own things,
but each of you also to the things of others.” Where Christ reigns strife vanishes.
In a western country church, two women, an “Euodia”’ and a “Syntyche,”
quarreled. The other members took sides. The conflict waxed hot, and
the church was in imminent danger of extinction. A deacon from a city
church visited these Christian belligerents, in order to save, if possible, the
church from utter ruin. He went first to the house of one of the warring
sisters, and was courteously received. As delicately as he could he made
known his errand. She agreed with him that strife among Christians in
general was to be deplored, but insisted that her quarrel was a righteous one.
He assured her that he should be very sorry to offend her by anything that
he might say, but must ask her if she could repeat the Lord’s Prayer? “Of
course I can,” she replied. “Will you, then,” he said, “be so kind as to do
it?” She began, “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us
this day our daily bread. And’’—There she stopped. The good deacon said,
“Will you go on?” And she answered, “I don’t wish to.” “Then,” he said,

gee“I will repeat it for you.” “And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive
every one that is indebted to us.” By this time her eyes were filled with
tears, and, half sobbing, she cried, ‘Oh, my God! I have not been forgiven
for six months.” The deacon said, “Shall I go and talk with the sister with
whom you have quarreled?” “Oh, no,” she replied, ‘I will go at once and do
that myself.” She did so. There was mutual confession and forgiveness.
Peace was restored. The church was once more united and happy. Christ
began to reign there; and where he reigns there is fellowship and joy.

Moreover, when Christ’s triumph shall have fully come, there will be
no more strikes. The benevolence of the King having taken possession of
his subjects, the employer and the employee will seek each other’s good;
there will be faithful service by the one and generous care by the other.
Without the asking there will be an equitable distribution of profits among
capitalists and laborers.

Not only will individuals then have happy fellowship with each other,
but nations also will be united in brotherly love. Instead of watching for
opportunities to tear each other down, they will do what they can to build
each other up. They will have free, unfettered intercourse. There will be
enacted no more Chinese Exclusion bills. They may now be a necessity.
It is not only the privilege, but the duty of a nation, to secure its own per-
petuity,—to defend itself against all corrupting influences both without and
within. But when all nations are ranged under the banner of the cross,
every man, whatever may be his nationality, will be permitted to go, without
let or hindrance, wherever he may choose, on all the face of the earth. And
then, of course, there will be no more war; no more grievous taxation in or-
der to gather, equip and drill vast armies; no more steel-sheathed navies;
no more frontier fortresses of granite and iron; no more destructive imple-
ments of slaughter; the sword will be beaten into the plowshare and the
spear into the pruning-hook; Krag-Jérgensen and Mauser rifles, the rifled
cannon, the mail of the mammoth man of war, will be fashioned into agri-
cultural implements, and machinery for manufactories. All engines of de-
struction shall give place to instruments of production; the nations “shall
learn war no more,” and so shall have the time and means to learn that
which is good and useful. And the children of that day will be more amazed
when they read of the armies, the navies, and the awful instruments of slaughter of
our day, than our sons and daughters are in reading of the wars of the gods.

Even then nations will probably be divided in judgment in reference
to great international questions; but instead of settling them by an appeal
to arms, they will be peacefully decided by some international court of arbi-
tration. Nor, guided by the word of God, do we expect that-évery person
on earth will even then swear allegiance to our King; but those loyal to
him will be in such preponderance, that all his enemies shall be “as still as
a stone,” and “they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,”
saith the Lord. All men shall be actuated by love; all shall live not for
themselves but for their fellowmen and for their Lord. All shall be God’s
servants, and in his service find their highest freedom and greatest happi-
ness; and each revolving day shall hear the exultant song of thanksgiving
and praise around the whole globe.

CeeDo you not desire to do something to usher in as speedily as possible a
day so fraught with blessing to all mankind? Does any timid soul, weak in
faith, shrink from the arduous, self-sacrificing work necessary to secure a
result so glorious? Difficult work, provided it be of the utmost importance,
always stirs manly souls to action. There are slumbering heroes in the
“weak piping time of peace;” but when in opposition to oppressive, grinding
tyranny, and in behalf of men deprived of their rightful liberty, the tocsin
of war sounds, these heroes awake. They are eager for the most fatiguing
duties, and shrink not from any deadly dangers, that they may strike down
tyrants and give freedom to slaves. So when Christ, the rightful King of this
world, calls you to proclaim him and his gospel to all peoples, he summons
you to the most sublime of all tasks; to deliver not one, but all nations, from
the slavery of sin and Satan, and to confer upon them the liberty of the
children of God. Is there one among you who can loiter, and sleep and
dream when your divine Lord calls you to a work so momentous, that beside
it the measures of the wisest statesmen sink into insignificance?

Some years ago the English missionaries at Uganda, in Central Africa,
were all murdered by the savages that they had gone thither to save, and
a score of young men who had believed the gospel which they had preached
were burned at the stake in the public square. The whole Christian world
shivered at these deeds of barbarity and blood, and the brethren in England,
who had planted and sustained the mission, were apprehensive lest this
might put an end to their beneficent work in the heart of the dark continent.
They called a meeting in London to which came many Christian students of
Oxford and Cambridge. Before that large congregation of devoted men and
women, they told with trembling hearts all that sad story of martyrdom.
Then they ventured to ask if there were any young men present who would
volunteer to take the places of those murdered missionaries; and now their
weak faith was rebuked, and their breath was fairly taken away, when a
hundred young men sprang to their feet, each one saying, “Send me.” The
more exacting and perilous the duty to which real believers are summoned
by their King, the more mightily are they moved to doit. Is it possible that
there is even one among you whose ears are so filled with the din of this
world, that he cannot hear the voice of his Lord calling him to the grandest
work to which mortals were ever urged? And can that trumpet-call from the
eternal King fail to stir you to meet unmoved, in the path of duty, the
greatest dangers, that you may save the world for which he died? Do you
hesitate, if it be necessary for the accomplishment of this great purpose, to
die as he died? The servant is not greater than his Lord.

In St. Louis, during the time of the great Civil War, I was called one
night to marry a volunteer cavalry soldier. Immediately after, he rode away
under the command of Zagonyi toward Springfield, Missouri. In entering
that city a charge was made between two lines of Confederate soldiers, and
my friend was shot. For several hours he lay on the frosty ground, slowly
bleeding; and then, faint and exhausted, he was put into an army wagon
which went jolting over rough roads to Rolla, and from there he was sent
by the cars to St. Louis. After a long search, I found him in an army hos-
pital, so changed that I could not at once recognize him. He now pathetical-ly told me the story of his suffering. He had been shot through the
shoulder; the bone had been shattered; pieces of it had protruded from the
wound and had been removed. He had preserved them. They were more
precious to him than diamonds. He kept them neatly wrapped in a paper
under his pillow. With his trembling, emaciated hand he took them out,
Slowly and carefully unwrapped them and showed them to me. Then he
put them back again under the pillow, and looking up, his eye began to
gleam as he said, “The doctors say that I cannot recover. I think that they
are mistaken. I shall get well. You see that it is the left shoulder that is
wounded. When it heals it will be stiff, but I can still hold the reins of my
horse in my left hand; and then, sir,” with great emphasis for an apparently
dying man, he added, “I have one more shoulder for my country.” He did live
to fight many a hard battle thereafter. What nerved him and brought him
ap from the gates of death was of vast worth. He was ready to give his right
shoulder as well as his left in order to maintain the union of the states in
its integrity—that the Potomac and the Mississippi might run undivided and
unvexed to the sea—that the great experiment of a government by the people
might not perish forever. But this object, great and important as it was,
pertained to a single nation. But the kingdom of our Lord overlaps all state
boundaries; it involves the destiny of the whole race. It purposes to bring
back to God, and loyally unite to him, all that are in revolt against him;
to restore all who will to fellowship with God from which sin
has rudely wrenched them. To a work so fundamental, comprehensive and
beneficent you should be ready to give not only two shoulders, but two eyes,
two hands, two feet, lips and tongue, brain and heart and life itself. And
when you, with all believers, do this, then the decisive and glorious victory
will soon come. The new Jerusalem, the church triumphant, shall come
down from God out of heaven, adorned as a bride for her husband, and the
redeemed earth shall be taken up into heaven. Earth shall be heaven and
heaven shall be earth, and both shall be full of the glory 20f » >the King by
whom and in whom they have been united. » > Rs

And his coming glory is heightened and enriched by the words that im-
mediately follow the text. ‘“‘Great voices in heaven” not only said, “The
kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his
Christ,” but added, “He shall reign for ever and ever.” And all of you who
work with him to save the world shall also reign with him forevermore.

The great congregation then sang with heart and soul:

“All hail the power of Jesus’ name,
Let angels prostrate fall;

Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown him Lord of all.

“Let every kindred, every tribe,
On this terrestrial ball,

To him all majesty ascribe,
And crown him Lord of all.

“Oh, that, with yonder sacred throng,
We at his feet may fall!

We’ll join the everlasting song,
And crown him Lord of all.”

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