General Montgomery’s Message to the Eighth Army.
This distinguished General issued the following message to all ranks of the Eighth Army which he has so successfully led: “It is wonderful what has been achieved since October 23rd, when we started the battle for Egypt. Before the battle began I sent you a message in which I said: Let us pray that the Lord mighty in battle will give us the victory. He has done so, and I know that you will agree with me when I say that we must not forget to thank Him for His mercy.”
A Sabbath Day’s Service in Glasgow Cathedral.
The following account of Christmas Day services in Glasgow Cathedral on Sabbath 27th December is taken from one of the leading Scottish dailies: “Inside Glasgow Cathedral change-ringing peals of hand-bells were heard for over ten minutes as the congregation gathered for the forenoon service. It was the first time such chimes had been heard in the Cathedral. The players, unseen by the congregation, were five members of the band of ten bell-ringers at St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow. The band, which is claimed to be the only hand-bell combination in Scotland, was heard by visitors to the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow in 1938, when hand-bell ringing took place frequently in the Exhibition’s Episcopal Church. A nativity play, on a stage set up in the nave of the Cathedral, was presented before a large congregation at an afternoon “Christmas tree service.” The players, in costume, were young people of 12 to 15 years of age, members of the Cathedral Guild of Friendship, under the direction of the Rev. Frederick H. Fulton, senior assistant minister of the Cathedral. Music accompanied the play, and carols were also sung by the Cathedral choir. At the close of the service there was a procession to a lighted Christmas tree, before which carols were sung.” When our eye caught the above paragraph we were at first under the impression that it was an account of services in a Roman Catholic Cathedral. But no; it was the account of a service held in a Presbyterian Church, Glasgow Cathedral. Will the Presbytery of Glasgow allow this to pass unchecked? We hope not. It cost our forefathers blood and tears to get rid of these “dregs of Romanism” in the 17th century and now they are being brought back again.
Have we Forgotten the Covenanters?
The Rev. A. Neville Davidson, the minister of Glasgow Cathedral, said recently at a commemoration service at the shrine of Mungo in the Cathedral, among other things:—”Have we forgotten that upon our alters and the roofs of our churches there is the sign of the Cross. Have we pictured Christ too often walking among the lilies, comforting little children, healing the sick and speaking words of comfort and hope, and forgotten that His life began in a stable and ended on a wooden cross in an agony of pain? Have we forgotten the myrtys of modern Russia and Poland, our own Covenanter, and the wonderful witness of the Church of Norway and what they are now enduring for their faith?” The reports of services in the Cathedral appearing recently in the press make it all to plain that Mr. Davidson and those who agree with him have forgotten ‘our own Covenanter.’ What would some of them think of hearing a Presbyterian minister speak about the crosses on their altars and on the roofs of their churches. There seems to be confusion in Mr. Davidson’s mind in classing the martyrs of Russia and Poland with the Scottish Covenanter. Heartfelt sympathy goes out to the poor victims of Nazi barbarism but with all their suffering they are not to be mentioned with the Covenanter in the same breath.
Social Security.
Our statesmen and politicians are as busy planning a new order of things as if they never had a single blunder to their credit in the past. They are to build a new world which will keep away poverty from the door of the poor. The social security schemes look beautiful on paper but between the blue print and the launching of the vessel there may be many a slip. No one who wishes well to his fellows would thoughtlessly act as a cold water pourer on any scheme that may prove beneficial to his fellowmen. But we must face facts and the panacea for the well-being of man is not to be found in say such schemes as that set forth in the epoch making Beveridge Report comprehensive though it be. The malady afflicting the human race whether savage or cultured, whether coloured or white is an age-long problem and the Bible tells us how this misery has come upon our race; it also tells us of the remedy God provided. It would be well, therefore, in all the plans for the new order that God’s way should be recognised and that an earnest endeavour would be made to carry it out lest we find ourselves in the position of the Ephraimites in Isaiah’s time, who were saying:—”The brick’s are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars” (Isai. ix. 10.)
“Seek First the Kingdom of God.”
In connection with the foregoing note the words of the Lord Jesus in the great Sermon on the Mount should not be overlooked:—”Therefore take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? or, what shall we drink? or, wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek): for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. vi. 31-33). There was misery, enslavement and degradation around Him but He preached no Social Gospel, as it is called, but a gospel that struck at the very root of all that misery and degradation. We reverse the Master’s method when we try to get rid of the outward manifestations and leave the root untouched. This is the fatal defect of the so-called Social Gospel. The Church’s duty is follow her Master’s example and pay heed to His command:—”Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” and lest any one should say this is a mere utopian dream impossible of realization in the present order of things, there is a promise attached—”For your heavenly Father knoweth ye have need of these things [what we shall eat, what shall we drink and where-withal we shall be clothed].” What is impossible with man is possible with God.