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4 THE PRESBYTERIA
LESSONS FROM THE EARTHQUAKE.
The variety and extent of distress occasioned by the
recent earthquake in Southern Italy, we are told, beggars
description and baffles the imagination. We may
well leave the revolting recital of desolation and anguish
to others and address ourselves tn Ipaminrr
?l*g 111V. 1VOOV/IIC?
that God would teach us.
A prominent philantropist and Christian teacher construes
the earthquake to be the punishment that God
visits on men for their sins. A secular journal denies
this and quotes our Savior's words, "Those eighteen upon
whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think
ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in
Jerusalem? I tell you, nay." The editor's conclusion is
that such events are mysteries and can not be explained
upon a rational'or Christian basis.
That such visitations come to particular individuals
or communities because of their exceptional sinfulness
can not be sustained as a principle of the divine government.
It is true that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed
because of the wickedness of the people. The
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iwu vamc uctciusc ui auouncnng wickedness, and Israel
was terribly chastised and made desolate because of
unbelief and disobedience, but the history of the world
shows that God's most faithful people have suffered
likewise from pestilence and wars of extermination, and
merciless persecution, as well as from famine and convulsions
of nature. And in all such providential visitations
the innocent suffer with the guilty.
It is clear, however, that such events must be construed
as a punishment of human guilt. If man were
sinless he would not be a sufferer. If there were no
sin in the world there would be no sorrow. The heavenly
life is to have no tears. "There will be no more
curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be
in it, and his servants shall serve him."
The prophecies concerning the last times tell us of
abounding iniquity and they also tell us that there shall
be earthquakes in divers places. These two are associated
and the one seems to be threatened as a consequence
of the other. Not because of the sins of a particular
community but because of a prevailing condition
-of ungodliness.
We cannot refer such an event simply to the blind
forces of nature. Our God is a God of providence. He
controls the winds and the waves of the sea. He settled
the mountains on their foundations and turned the
drivers in their courses. Earthquakes come by his permission
and by his appointment. The fact that he foretells
that they shall occur in the last days, evidences
his appointment and control. They will occur because
.he has ar?nrkint*?/4 ttioSr
A solemn lesson for us to learn is that the interests
of the human family are largely identified. The sin of
one class, or race, or generation brings penalties on
many classes or on all. We cannot regard the worldli
ness or apostasy ot any part of our race with indifference.
The time of reckoning will come and it will be
vast and comprehensive in its effects. Our failure to
enlighten and purify any class or portion of humanity
may involve penalties which the most enlightened and
virtuous will have to bear. Our destinies are bound up
in some degree with the destinies of the whole race.
One lesson that we may lay to heart in this age is,
N OF THE SOUTH. February 3, igog.
tliat man can never become independent of God, or challenge
the divine ownership and authority. Human resources
arc very vast and learning has advanced. The
knowledge and appliance of scientific truth has made
marvelous progress. The enginery of human achievement
is massive and mighty. Man sometimes fancies
he has passed beyond the stage of dependence on a mightier
and wiser being. The rocking of the earth and
the sweep of an angry sea reminds him that lie is after
all but a pigmy in the presence of Omnipotence. "He
gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap,
he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth
fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand
in awe of him; for he spake and it was done, he com
mantled and it stood fast. The Lord bringeth the counsel
of the heathen to naught; he maketh the devices of
the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord
standeth forever and the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance."
WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT?
Are there signs of promise in the skies? Does the
Kingdom come ? How long our Lord has waited to see
of the travail of his soul! Certainly we live far down
the files of time, and many changes have taken place in
tne world, l lie nations are nearer together, and know
each other better than they have ever done. The unity
of the race is more than ever evident. All men are
seeing that God hath made of one blood all men for to
dwell on the face of the earth. There are no unknown
peoples today. It has been said, "The last man has
been found."
With this knowledge of the world and consciousness
of unity, has come in the Church of Christ a world-consciousness,
a sense of relationship to all men, and a
deep, dominating conviction that each man is his brother's
keeper. It is one of the signs of the times that
throughout the great body of Christian believers there
has been developed this strong sense of human unitv
and of responsibility.
However retired the place, however narrow the life,
the Christian heart has taken on itself the burden of
the world. Many, with the smallest means and in the
lowliest service, are burdened and anxious with the
wants of the world for which Christ died. In the village
prayer meeting earnest, tearful petitions are offered
for the nations that lie in darkness and the great multitudes
that know not Christ. Out of the narrow means
of the poor, with self-denial and trusting God for the
morrow, many are giving for the spread of the Gospel
and the saving of faraway and alien peoples.
Certain outstanding facts and events there are which
are signs of God's mighty activity in extending his kingdom.
We are passing through a period of missionary
centennials, which are*bringing to light the progress of
God's kingdom. In Shanghai, in ioov. therp wn?
Centenary Conference which commemorated the arrival
of Morrison, the first missionary of the modern era in
Chin^. It was a marvellous story that was unfolded,
touching the coming of Christ's kingdom to a vast nation
of four hundred million souls. In 1910 there will
be celebrated the centennial of the American Board.