War
WAR! Hideous, horrible war. The shadow of death hovers over the world today. Under the shadow millions of men are armed to destroy — under that shadow are desolated homes and breaking hearts, and widows who weep over and with their fatherless children. Lust, and rapine, and famine, follow the track of the destroy in ghosts — the whole earth cries to God for help from war.
The mad ambition and lust for power of a ruler with the Name of God upon his lips have let loose the horrors of hell upon the world. There is the hidden death in the ground, the flying death in the air, the awful carnage of the battlefield, and the flight of thousands of immortal souls into eternity day by day. The manhood of the world is sacrificed on the foul altars of military despotism.
The Situation in France
I received a letter from Madame le Coat in which she says: ―
“Our situation is very sad now in France. The proclamation of war has called out of the country every man; all we have left is old men, women and children. Le Quere is gone, Omnes also; and Somerville is waiting for the call. The lawyer is gone and our doctor.... We are working very hard to get in the harvest. This will give you an idea of our position. The strictest surveillance is exerted over us; we must get the Mayor’s permission for everything, but the Lord is above all, and will, I am sure, in His own good time bring us through. When you go out of the house everybody you meet is crying. I hope you are not in the same state in England.... I am thankful that my dear husband is at rest; he will not suffer.”
This touching letter was followed by another from Mademoiselle Le Quere in which she says: — “We had a letter from Omnes (the colporteur) today. He is near ―, not far from —, guarding a fort. He does not know how long he will have to stay there. He says there are two hundred and fifty soldiers there, and he is the only Protestant. He finds many opportunities to preach the gospel; he has promised to many of these men the New Testament. My dear brother is still in―; a good number of English soldiers are camping there, and my father says they are so well behaved that it is a pleasure to see them. But what a pity to think of all these precious young lives being sacrificed.”
An English Boy
The following touching incident, related by Corporal Haglett, must appeal to all our hearts. Think of the thousands of homes where fathers and mothers are weeping over their dead. We should pray earnestly to God to comfort the stricken hearts that have been filled with sorrow during this awful war. The Corporal says: —
“The other day I stopped to assist a young lad of the West Dents who had been badly hit by a piece of shell. He hadn’t long to live, and he knew it, too, but he wasn’t at all put out about it. I asked him if there was any message I could take to any one at home, and the poor lad’s eyes filled with tears as he answered: I ran away from home and ‘listed a year ago. Mother and dad don’t know I’m here, but you tell them that I’m not sorry I did it.’ “When I told our boys afterward about that they cried like babies, but, mind you, that’s the spirit that’s going to pull England through this war, and there isn’t a man of us that doesn’t think of that poor boy and his example every time we go into fight. I got his name and the last address of his people from his regiment, and I am writing to tell his people that they have every reason to be proud of their lad. He may have run away from home, but he didn’t run away from the Germans, anyway.”
If only our hearts were as devoted to the Lord Jesus as this dear lad’s was to his country and his King!
A Flag for Christ
A few years ago a converted Sikh lay dying at Amritsar, in the Punjaub, India. Before he passed triumphantly into his rest he expressed his desire to put up a flag for Christ, and left some money for the purpose. Today a flag waves in the gentle breeze above the houses of that city, bearing simply the words, “For Christ,” in bold letters on a scarlet ground. “That bright flag seemed to us,” says a missionary, “a monument of the grace and mercy of God, who could transform an idolator into a saint; and also a glad prophecy of the future when all nations shall own the sovereignty of our coming King. Below in the city the Hindoos bow before their idols; the Mohammedans perform their religious rites, not acknowledging the Saviour, and in ignorance of His love; and within a short distance the Golden Temple of the Sikhs shines and glitters in the sunlight. But still the flag floats calmly above it all, a reminder of the glorious fact that Christ shall reign and all His enemies be put beneath His feet.”
Special Notice
We shall be so glad to get letters from Christian soldiers at the front, speaking of God’s work among the men. We should like to feel that at twelve o’clock every day our Christian readers would raise a prayer to God on behalf of those who are fighting for us.
KINDLY READ CAREFULLY THE APPEAL ON THE LAST PAGE OF THIS NUMBER OF THE “MESSAGE FROM GOD.”