IT was hoped by many of God’s people, during the period of the Great War, that the terrible things in righteousness then experienced by young and old would have produced beneficial moral and religious effects upon society in general. This hope was not based upon any unwarrantable opinion as to the supposed essential goodness of human nature, but upon the character of some of God’s promises given in His Word, and upon the manner of His frequent dealings in providence with the children of men. It is written, as a matter of promise, “When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isa. xxvi. 9); and it has been observed, as a matter of providence, that seasons of affliction have been followed by times of spiritual blessing (Psalms lxviii. 9, 10). It was undoubtedly remembered at the same time that these results were not inevitable, but that they depended on the sovereign good pleasure of God, who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will, and who might on just grounds withhold such favourable results. We fear that God has still a serious controversy with us as a country and a generation, for the War was only blessed to a very limited extent, and the general aftermath has been largely injurious to the moral and spiritual interests of the nation.
What is the state of the case morally as to those who took actual part in the service of the War? Though we put the question, we do not profess ability to give a precise answer to it. The answer must only be approximate at best. As far as can be observed, it is only a minority who have derived decided moral benefit, who came out of the struggle with a more sober, serious outlook upon life, and who are setting a better moral example to their fellows than they did before. Of a certain number, perhaps, it may be said that there is no marked difference one way or the other. But it can be safely affirmed, however, of a large class that they are decidedly worse in morals than before
they entered upon the great struggle. The newspapers afford too abundant proof of the truth of this, with their numerous reports of murders, divorces, and such like. The War, it is manifest in the case of many, only opened the floodgates of wickedness and vice, and it is deplorable to observe the violence and immorality that characterise many quarters of the kingdom. And, is it not plain to everyone that the love of amusement and frivolity has greatly increased in our towns and villages, promoted by people of all ranks and classes. We hear from various parts of the country sad reports as to the general abandonment to pleasure which marks the young people, many young men who were quiet and orderly in life before, being now ringleaders in every form of vanity and folly. We may well cry, “Save us, O Lord our God.” For, if the Lord will not, in the riches of His mercy, put a stop to this mad campaign of foolishness, the prospects of many for eternity are black in the extreme.
Then, the question may be asked, What is the state of the case, religiously and spiritually, among those who were at the War and those who were at home? The answer is on parallel lines. We believe that there were a few in the various forces who were truly awakened to a sense of their sin and danger, and were brought to the feet of Christ for salvation. Such became new men in Christ. Some of them fell in the War, and others are living a different life to-day to the glory of God. Every such case is a matter of everlasting praise to God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. But, of a vast number, a different story has to be told. We hear of young men who were diligent in their attendance at the means of grace before the War, but who now hardly darken the door of a place of worship. They seem to have cast off all regard for God and religion, and do not wish to hear one sound and faithful word that will touch their consciences, or raise alarm in their minds as to their forward ways. Such cases are lamentable in the extreme. They are illustrations of the fact that unblessed affliction, instead of melting and subduing the heart, only makes it as hard as adamant. Providential trials are like the Gospel in this, that they are a “savour of death unto death,” where they are not the “savour of life unto life.”
We see, further, that the War has not produced any beneficial effect on the general religious views and practices of the country. Men talk as if the War should have put into the melting pot all distinctive views and principles in religion, and reduced all to one common blend, and as if such a process was the most Christian thing imaginable. We solemnly maintain that such an idea is from hell and not from heaven. We believe that nothing pleases “the prince of darkness” more than to see distinctiveness of principle destroyed, in the name of Christianity. He is anxious that all difference between truth and error, light and darkness, shall be obliterated in the minds of men. This is his subtle policy for the advancement of his unholy kingdom, and they are
“blind leaders of the blind” who advocate this policy in the name of Christian unity. It is exceedingly plain that the War has not been attended with a blessing to people of this way of thinking. The word appears to be fulfilled: “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse.” Church and world are going hand in hand, and many places of worship are no better than concert halls. Promiscuous dancing is becoming a religious agency, to introduce young people to the Church and to keep them there. Such carnal devices are only bringing religion into contempt. Professed ministers of the Gospel who promote these delusive schemes, are only soul-destroyers, and are to be shunned as a danger to society. Truly the present religious outlook is dark, and some are seeing this who are, to a certain extent, mixed up with the evils which we condemn and deplore. May the Most High open their eyes more and more, and may He raise up a standard against the enemy in a dark and unpromising time! “Save us, O Lord, our God” (Psalm cvi. 47).
And then the War has produced no beneficial result as to the social and economic condition of the country, and as to the settlement of Irish discontent. Internal strife between man and man has sprung up more and more, and Ireland is practically a battlefield. Our national indulgence to Popery is reaping its painful reward, and if God prevent not, many terrible things are yet in store. Truly there is much need for self humbling before God, and earnest prayer that He would come for our deliverance. “Vain is the help of man.” Our rulers are at their wit’s end: the problem baffles them. They do not take the Word of God as a light to their feet, and they have not the courage to act out even what their understandings must of necessity teach them is the right and thorough course to follow. Their moral strength seems gone. We earnestly trust that the cry of God’s true people who are bound to be afflicted for the general condition of the land and world, will be heard by the Lord of hosts who is “wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.”
WHEN Thomas Hooker approached his end, “he closed his eyes with his own hands,” as Cotton Mather narrates, “and, with a smile on his countenance, gave a little groan, and so expired his blessed soul into the arms of his fellow-servants, the holy angels, 7th July, 1647.” It appears that “the glorious peace of soul” which marked his last moments, and which, an eye-witness said, gave him more pleasant thoughts of death than he had ever had before, had been enjoyed by him without any interruption for nearly thirty years. Yet there was no infusion of self-righteousness or fanaticism in this life-long assurance of God’s love. For when one who stood weeping by his bedside said to him, “Sir, you are going to receive the reward of all your labours,” he replied, “Brother, I am going to receive mercy.“