The Messiah and Israeli General Election.
During last July a General Election took place in Palestine to elect a new Israeli Government and it was reported that a great deal of bribery took place to influence voters to support one party or another. But one man came all the way from America to bribe as many Jews as he could to abstain from voting altogether. A religious leader Rabbi Teitelbaum came over from New York before the election to offer food vouchers worth 15 American dollars to any Jew who in return would abstain from voting. Behind this was the view of a Jewish sect, which believes that Israel needs its Messiah before establishing secular rule, and that the present political state is an illegal one. So we are made aware once more of the sad fact that there are still Jews looking for the first advent of the Messiah, foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament Scriptures, in face of all the glorious evidence that He came to this world to seek and to save the lost, and not to establish a temporal Jewish Kingdom, nearly two thousand years ago. It seems that these Jews are expecting the Messiah to come for their temporal advantage as a people. But when the Spirit of grace and of supplication shall be poured down upon the Jews in God’s appointed time, then they will turn to their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the New Testament and in the gospel of His grace, and mourn over their rejection of Him, and embrace Him and believe upon Him in the exercise of a living faith.
Sabbath-breakers Disturb Scottish Villages.
Two reports have appeared recently telling of the activities of haters of the Sabbath which have affected villages in Scotland. In July, at Perth and Kinross County Council, Councillor Andrew Howie declared that people in the Perthshire village of Errol were afraid to go to Church on the Lord’s Day, when there is motor cycle racing at Errol Aerodrome, because there is so much congestion and danger on the roads. He proposed some traffic arrangements to obviate the danger. What a terrible state of matters when law-abiding citizens who desire on one day in seven to publicly acknowledge God are afraid to appear on the public road of their village when ungodly men hold a motor cycle race meeting in the vicinity. Truly the devil in men is seeking increasingly to trample down even the remaining evidences of outward decency on God’s holy day. It is, of course, true that these motor cycle enthusiasts on the Lord’s Day are driving fast to hell. Let no one envy the license they are taking by engaging in their sport, in violation of the law of God. The other case of deplorable Sabbath breaking in a village is connected with the Aberdeenshire village of Boddam. It is said that every Sabbath evening bus loads of people from Aberdeen and the surrounding countryside pour into the village. They bring their own dance band with them. There is a meal in a local hotel and drinking also, and then the dancing, which sometimes goes on until 11 p.m., Sabbath night. It has been said that the noise is terrible, and there has been quite a lot of discontent among village householders about these dances. But others do not care, and it is reported that nothing is being done. Here is the enemy coming in like a flood upon a quiet Scottish village on the Lord’s Day to dance, drink, and distract the minds of others. This is indeed the true character of those who reject with scorn the old Scottish Sabbath. But why is nothing being done to oppose these unholy activities? If there is a minister of religion worth the name in the village of Boddam he should be up and doing in an endeavour to stop the lawless being a burden and a trial to others. The Sabbath dancers in Aberdeenshire, as elsewhere, have yet to appear at the judgment seat of Christ. There will be no trifling with the divine law there, or any carnal frivolity.
Irish Republican Army in England.
During August, as reported in the press, members of what is called the I.R.A., raided Arborfield Barracks, Berks., and stole large quantities of arms and ammunition. These were recovered in a derelict shop in North London. And it should be very particularly noted that during the removal of all this ammunition by the police a man called Danny Rory O’Ryan, said to be London’s I.R.A. chief, drove to watch the special police do this work. He is reported to have stood there cursing and saying, “We will rise again.” This whole movement with its main headquarters in Roman Catholic Eire, is organising to bring to an end by force the partition between Roman Catholic Eire and Protestant Ulster. And apparently members of this gang and their families find employment and live comfortably in England, and at the same time plot against our Protestant nationals and religion in Ulster. Will this new manifestation of Vatican policy open the eyes of indifferent professed Protestants to the boldness of the enemies of our Protestant liberties and heritage?
Roman Catholics and Scottish Nationalism.
In the recent past we have expressed the opinion that the campaign for Home Rule for Scotland is definitely supported by the Roman Catholic Church to further its own aims. We have further information on this very fact in the Scottish Catholic Herald for 1st July, 1955. In this issue it is reported that two prominent R.C.’s, among others, have signed a new declaration calling for unity among Scottish nationalists, viz., Sir Compton Mackenzie and Mr. Moray McLaren. The Covenanters want Scottish control of purely Scottish affairs. The Scottish Nationalist Party wish full dominion status. Mr. Oliver Brown, who signed the declaration, said that if the Scottish Parliament were to be constituted the eight Roman Catholic bishops of Scotland would automatically be entitled to seats. This is the Mr. Brown, who some years ago, suggested that the Church of Scotland should return to the Roman Catholic Church, all the abbeys and churches said to be taken over at the Reformation. These recent items of information indeed confirm us in the view that the Roman Church is using the Home Rule for Scotland campaign not for the advantage of the people of Scotland but with intention of furthering the Papacy in our midst. Thus we must keep clear of this Home Rule business.