MOST people have been shocked from time to time by the religious utterances of the Emperor of Germany, who expresses himself, when he takes occasion to do so, in terms of the greatest familiarity with the Almighty, and invokes, without the least hesitation, the divine blessing upon military proceedings, lawless and barbaric beyond description. His is apparently not the sin of forgetting God, but rather a too constant remembrance of Him in a way that is not glorifying to His holy and gracious Name. This feature in the Kaiser’s character has had the effect of leading many people in our own country to the opposite extreme of not acknowledging publicly the claims of the Most High in connection with the War, and the necessity of dependence upon His help. Such a consequence ought not to be. If the German Emperor is guilty of gross error in one direction, let us not be misled into an equally serious error in another. It is very doubtful, indeed, whether it is better, not to mention God at all than to mention Him even in a fanatical manner. For, although the latter way is very repelling, still God’s existence and power, and man’s dependence—most essential facts—are actually acknowledged, while the former absolutely ignores these great and fundamental realities altogether, as if they were non-existent. The Apostle Paul preferred that Christ should be preached even “of contention and in pretence,” rather than that He should not be preached at all (Philipp. i. 15-18). So we would say: let the Most High’s being, claims, and help be constantly remembered and acknowledged in public utterances, even although done with a measure of formality. We fear very much that many, high and low, find it too easy to neglect the recognition of God for the simple reason that they live in daily forgetfulness of His authority and of their indebtedness to His goodness.
A few words, then, as to national and individual forgetfulness of God.
I. Let us observe our national forgetfulness.
The nation is represented by its King and Government, and it is matter of sincere grief to us that our rulers do not sufficiently acknowledge God in their public deliverances. Possibly the Kaiser’s profuse religiosity has affected them unfavourably, but this is no proper or adequate reason for an almost entire forgetfulness of the Most High. In the last stirring appeal for “more men,” God was not once acknowledged as having had anything to do with the building up of the great British Empire, nor was His indispensable help made mention of as necessary to secure victory to our armies and navies. Everything was attributed to creature activity, skill, and power. Now, if there is anything plainer than another under the sun, it is that the prosperity of the British Empire is due to the grace and might of the wonder-working Jehovah. That two small islands (Britain and Ireland) on the western coast of Europe should be the centre of an Empire on which the sun never sets, is one of the outstanding miracles of modern times. God sent us the gospel of His Son Jesus Christ with special power, and raised up heroic witnesses for His name, mighty men of valour in the cause of truth and righteousness. The influence of their instructions and example has extended to their posterity, and produced a certain noble quality of moral fibre, even in natural men among us, altogether admirable and beneficent. It is Christianity, and nothing else, that has made us what we are as a nation superior to others, and it is extremely wrong to ignore this. Truly it is lamentable to observe that our political leaders deliver speech after speech in connection with the war without the faintest recognition of dependence upon divine help. Even, the formal, “Thank God,” which sometimes appears in the utterances of public men, is seldom to be met with. Now, we must say that this is truly deplorable, and that it is time there was a change of attitude. What are Kitchener, French, and Jellicoe, and all our able soldiers and sailors, apart from the King eternal, who rideth on the heavens in His might? If we ignore the Lord of Hosts, we ignore the mightiest factor in the whole situation. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” But, on the other hand, if God be against us, it matters not who is for us. The psalmist, who was well acquainted with war, declares: “There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength” (Ps. xxxiii. 16). His confidence for success in bringing wars to an end was in the Lord Jehovah; “Come, behold the works of the Lord, . . . He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire” (Ps. xlvii. 8, 9). And again, “For the Lord most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet” (Ps. xlvii. 2, 3). It is well to have a righteous cause; it is well to have ample munitions; and it is well to have strong and numerous armies. But let us not forget the Infinite Source of all power and success, without whose gracious help nothing can be effectually accomplished.
2. Let us notice individual forgetfulness of God.
There is too much practical atheism among thousands of people in our highly favoured, professedly Christian country. Multitudes rise up and lie down as if there were no God. We have truly backslidden from the piety of former times. No doubt there were infidels and ungodly people in all generations of our history, but materialism was never so widespread since the Reformation, as it is to-day. “What shall we eat? What shall we drink? and wherewithal shall we be clothed?” seem the only important questions to many. And this is far too true of quite a number of persons from whom better things might be expected, and whose spiritual privileges have been abundant. The young and rising generation do not seem to appreciate their spiritual advantages to the same extent as their forefathers. Carnal pleasure and amusement are eagerly sought after, while exercises of a serious and spiritual nature are lightly esteemed and often studiously avoided. The Most High has withdrawn His Spirit to an alarming extent, and His authority, claims, and many merciful kindnesses, are almost wholly forgotten. The fool hath said in his heart, “There is no God,” and this fool is found in all corners of the land in the times in which we live.
God is speaking very loudly to us in the present terrible War, when many of our brave young men are falling by sword and shell. He is calling to us to awake out of the sleep of forgetfulness, and to remember Him who is Maker, Lawgiver, Redeemer, and Saviour. He sent His Son “to seek and save that which was lost,” and the Son though personally exalted to the right hand of the Father, is still seeking by His Word and Spirit the lost sheep upon the mountains of vanity. Is it not perilous in the extreme then for us to forget God, and to refuse to listen to His voice, when He holds the sword of judgment over our heads, and speaks to us in tones of loudest thunder? There is a new call at this time to awake to eternal realities. “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”
We shall assuredly be held responsible for the manner in which we treat the present awful dispensation. Let careless ones, young and old, remember the solemn words of the wise man: “He that being often reprov’d hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Prov. xxix. 1). Now is the season to bend our necks under the Lord’s rod, to acknowledge our sins against His law and gospel, and to seek His face and favour with all our hearts. The prophet Jonah said, “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.” It would be well if many poor sinners were brought to the fainting point under a sense of guilt and danger, and then to the remembrance of a gracious God in Christ who is able and willing to save from going down into the pit, so as to make known their needs of infinite moment to Him at a throne of grace. Such would have glorious occasion to praise Him for His great salvation. Let us be assured of it that it is a crime of the blackest dye for those, who have had gospel privileges, to forget God, their best Benefactor and Friend in providence and grace, and to say in effect to Christ who stands before them in the gospel, “Depart out of our coasts.” “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” May the Lord, in the riches of His grace, incline many, young and old, to remember Him at this present solemn season in our national history, while the day of salvation lasts, and to His name shall be the praise!