Little did we think when our last issue went to press carrying the comment, "every major power could have a new ruler within a year," that before this issue would follow into print the United States would have a new president. The sad and shocking events of November 22, 1963 cast a pall over much of the world. On that day President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated as he and his wife, and the governor of Texas and his wife, rode in an open automobile in Dallas, Texas. The President was rushed to a hospital, but nothing could be done by medical science to save his life. He had been mortally wounded by two bullets fired from a window of a warehouse overlooking the path of the procession. Governor John Connally of the State of Texas was seriously wounded, but a sudden movement of his body had saved his life. He is reported to be recovering—a close call!
It is indeed a tragic and inglorious close of life for President Kennedy at the comparatively young age of 46 years—the youngest President to serve the country. He had reached the very pinnacle of world fame, only to be felled in a moment of time. We might use the words of David when Saul and Jonathan were slain: "How are the mighty fallen!" (2 Sam. 1:1919The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen! (2 Samuel 1:19)). We are impressed with the brevity of life and the frailty of man. And oh, the dread finality of one's being cut off! There comes a moment when it cannot be stayed or altered—the man is gone, "and the mourners go about the streets" (Eccles. 12:55Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: (Ecclesiastes 12:5)). "As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more." (Psalm 103:15, 1615As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. 16For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. (Psalm 103:15‑16)).
We will probably never know what motivated Lee Harvey Oswald to commit this heinous and despicable act which stunned the world by cutting off a world figure of eminence. The act widowed Mrs. Kennedy and made her children fatherless. We cannot begin to estimate the far-reaching consequences of this premeditated murder; but before long the world will have regained its composure, and other men will step into the void and carry on.
But a more serious question is, What about Mr. Kennedy's soul? We are mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus, "Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him." (Luke 12:4, 54And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. (Luke 12:4‑5)). It is not for us to pass on the destiny of Mr. Kennedy's soul; that is in the hands of the God with whom we each have to do. He is the searcher of all hearts. What we do know is that if Mr. Kennedy had a personal trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, then he is now absent from the body and present with the Lord. This is true of him or of any other person, but nothing whatsoever can alter the condition of a man's soul when once he has passed out of this life. Man's destiny is sealed at that moment. No prayers of Pope Paul VI, or of all the clerics in the world, can change anyone's state after death. In Scripture we read of some of whom it was said, "These all died in faith." All such go into paradise to be with the rest of the redeemed. Every man alive on earth is a sinner, and no one but God can forgive sins. He is willing and ready to do this for each and every one who takes his place as a sinner before Him, and accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as his only Savior. God desires that all men should be saved, but He will not forgive guilty men unless they trust in the atoning work of Christ. Unless men believe in the Lord Jesus they will "die in their sins." That is the awful alternative to dying in faith. May these solemn considerations as a result of the President's death stir many people to face the future now in the presence of God to the saving of their souls. It is the judgment to come after death that makes death so dreadfully solemn: "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." (Heb. 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)).
Daniel's song of praise to God in his second chapter comes forcibly to mind at this time: "Daniel said, Blessed be the name of God forever: for wisdom and might are His: and He changeth the times and the seasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings." (vss. 20, 21). And this is as true of elected officials as of kings and emperors. God overrules in all the affairs of men. Another has said, "God is behind the scenes and moves all the scenes He is behind." The knowledge of this fact should keep the Christian calm and quiet even in the midst of tumult and confusion. The all-powerful, all-wise, and all-seeing God who providentially orders all, is the One whom we know as our Father. We "know not what shall be on the morrow," but we know Him who does, and who orders all things according to the counsel of His own will.
The imperious Nebuchadnezzar was to lose his reason for a time and be driven from men until a time would come when he would "know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will." Never was there a man more exalted than the great Babylonian emperor, and he was brought low. In the fourth chapter of Daniel, we get incidents related which have a prophetic character as showing the insanity of Gentile powers in the days of the "times of the Gentiles." Then the time came when Nebuchadnezzar lifted up his eyes to heaven, and his reason returned to him. "And at the end of the days, I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation: and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?" (vss. 34, 35). When Christ comes to reign and puts down all His enemies, the "times of the Gentiles" will have ceased. Then will the Gentiles recognize and honor God as the Most High God—His name in connection with the Millennium.
Crime and violence was to further stalk Dallas and its neighboring city, Fort Worth, Texas. As soon as the assassination of President Kennedy was enacted, the Dallas police and the Secret Service men, who were there in abundance to guard the chief executive, fanned out in a search for the culprit. As they closed in on Lee Harvey Oswald, in Fort Worth, he turned and shot a pursuing police officer, killing him. Surely God's verdict of Romans 3 is true: "Their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known." (vss. 15-17). What had begun as a beautiful, bright day was soon marred by crime and horror.
The net of circumstantial evidence closed tighter and tighter around Lee Harvey Oswald, and he was formally charged with the murder of the President, the police officer, and the attempted murder of the governor of the state; he was lodged in the city jail of Dallas.
The violence in men was not to end there, however. On Lord's day morning, November 24, as the city police authorities were preparing to remove the prime suspect from the city to the county jail for safer keeping, another man entered the scene. This man in some manner obtained entrance to the city jail as officers were leading the manacled Oswald to an armored truck and walked up to Oswald and shot him. Another murder, and this inside of the city jail—violence complicated by violence. And another man was ushered into eternity to meet a Holy God—cut off without warning and with no time for even the thought of preparation. It may be said that he only got what he had meted out to others, but the solemn fact remains that he was thrust into eternity from whence God will cast him at a later date into hell where he will remain for all eternity devoid of peace or hope.
It may be hackneyed to say that "two wrongs do not make a right," but these words are appropriate in this place. When God put government into the hands of men after the flood, He said, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed"; but this is no sanction for man to take the law into his own hands and murder another. When men take the law into their own hands, violence is the result. In fact, anarchy is but the multiplication of such acts. The law is responsible before God to take the life of him who takes life, and this in spite of the sentimentalists who decry capital punishment. Before the flood, corruption and violence filled the earth, and no man's life was safe; and when the Son of Man comes to reign, the conditions prevalent in the days of Noah will already have returned (see Luke 17:2626And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. (Luke 17:26)).
Nor was the United States the only country visited by assassination of those in high places. Just twenty days before the death of President Kennedy, the established government of South Vietnam fell in a bloody coup. Both President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother were wantonly killed, and the powers of government taken by others. Many there were ushered into eternity by acts of violence. But worse is yet to come, for we read in Revelation 64And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. (Revelation 6:4) that a time is coming when peace shall be taken from the earth, and they will "kill one another." How is it that men can brush aside the solemn precursors of worse to come, and go heedlessly on, careless of the destiny of their immortal souls? Is the answer not to be found in that "the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (2 Cor. 4:44In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4))?
One thing that Christians in these Western lands can yet be thankful for is that God is restraining the powers of darkness for His people's sake, so that the nation was not thrown into confusion; but an orderly transition took place, and Lyndon Baines Johnson became the new President of the United States.
But while we view the tragic events of the last month with solemnity, let us not forget that the world in which we are temporarily strangers is the same world yet that cast our blessed Savior out of it. God sent His beloved Son into the world saying, "It may be they will reverence Him" (Luke 20:1313Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. (Luke 20:13)). But they conspired against Him and cast Him out. He was nailed to a wooden cross and held up as a spectacle to heaven and earth that the rulers of this world rejected Him who came in love and grace. His death was not the result of one man's decision, but His was the official verdict of a subdivision of the Roman Empire. Governor Pontius Pilate in solemn court turned Him over to be crucified after having rendered verdicts of not guilty on several occasions. Herod from Galilee also mocked Him and made no move to secure His release. The soldiers, the common people, the leaders of religion, all clamored for His death. Before God, the world and all mankind were rendered guilty, and the world's trial was ended. It has been a condemned world from that day. Judgment has been decreed, the day set, and the Judge appointed. May we beseech sinners to flee from the wrath to come.
In closing these remarks, may we add a word of caution to Christians. We should be careful to not "speak evil of dignities." This is quite common today, but those in authority have God's sanction in the office they hold. Whether they are wise, or unwise, we should render respect to them as God's ministers (Rom. 13:66For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. (Romans 13:6)). Not that God will not hold them responsible for their acts, and His government will operate in that sphere as in all others; but we should be careful in how we treat them and speak of them. Let us not engage in striving, but be mindful of our heavenly calling and destiny. May we sing with the poet,
"This world is a wilderness wide!
We have nothing to seek or to choose;
We've no thought in the waste to abide;
We have naught to regret, nor to lose.
"The Lord is Himself gone before;
He has marked out the path that we tread;
It's as sure as the love we adore,
We have nothing to fear, nor to dread."