The World's Unrest by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 10, 1910

The World's Unrest

By F. M. W.

The world to-day is like a troubled sea. The spirit of unrest and disquietude has taken possession of the hearts of men. Look where we will, we see springing up with active growth the seeds of disintegration and strife. The old-time spirit of simplicity and rugged integrity is giving place to the excitement and superficial living of a fast age. Barriers which heretofore have held in check the passions of men have been broken down; and, actuated by the wild spirit of the age, license is mistaken for liberty, and the promptings of conscientious principles are giving place to the impulses of selfish desire.

This departure is everywhere apparent. We see it in the weakening of the marriage relation. It is manifest in the religious life of the people. The Scriptures of truth are being discarded. There has been a wide departure from the old-time simplicity of faith. The question raised by Pilate, “What is truth?” is heard from every quarter; and that, too, with direct reference to some of the fundamental principles of Christianity, which the church of God considered long since forever settled.

This spirit of degeneracy is seen in the business world in the wild rush for wealth,—wealth to be obtained by any means and in the quickest way. It is seen in the corruption which has crept into nearly every State and municipal administration. But while this spirit of change and unrest is seen in these more quiet phases, its most striking exhibition is witnessed in national and international affairs. Every government has foes without and foes within seeking its overthrow. It is the time foretold by our Saviour in his great prophetic discourse,—the time of “men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.”

Careful observers on every side note these conditions, and comment on their significance.

The editor of the United Presbyterian, in its issue of October 13, speaks of the strikes, lockouts, and riots to be found in some of the cities of the United States, and then adds:—

This is not local. The same conditions prevail in Great Britain. A very large proportion of those employed in factories, mills, and yards are idle and angry. In more stable and more severely policed Germany, riots have led to bloodshed. In France, although to a less degree, the unrest is disturbing prosperity and progress. Spain trembles as with the premonitory shocks of an earthquake. The murmuring of discontent is heard from other European states, like the wailing of a troubled sea. Everywhere the complaint is against wealth, luxury, pride, arrogance, and cruel domination. Different, and yet equally ominous, is the discontent in the far East. There it is a struggle between ages. The East is passing through revolutionary changes, and is almost delirious with a new spirit. It asserts in an unmistakable tone its independence of the West, by whose intrusion it has been awakened from the quiet of ages. At the same time there is a resistance to the new order, that intensifies the feeling against the foreigners. In the near East there are equally important changes in the overthrow of the old order and the introduction of the regenerating forces. The Mohammedan world is rousing itself to a most aggressive policy, creating a spirit of discontent and resistance to the point of readiness to break out in revolution.

From this picture the editor looks forward with hope to a happy working out of these difficult problems through the united efforts of the Christian churches. We would indeed that the great professed church of Christ were in a position to-day, where, amid the babel of voices, it could strike a note clear and distinct, and could issue a rallying call to the nations of men. But, alas! the church itself has succumbed to the spirit of the age. The seeds of disintegration have taken root in her, the same as in the unprofessing world; and its baneful fruit is manifested in the spirit of Higher Criticism and other evil sophistries, which strike at the very root of faith in God and confidence in the Scriptures of truth. The great Christian church, as constituted, stands weak and powerless before the moral and social evils which are threatening the disruption of society. It needs itself a regeneration before it can undertake a work of reform for the world. “Ichabod” is written over its sanctuaries.

But there is this comforting thought in the midst of this warfare of opposing forces: God still lives. Though rejected by the multitude, and wounded in the house of its friends, the Word of God is still a living Word, and that Word

will work effectually in the heart of every true and sincere believer. To-day God is speaking to the hearts of men; his Spirit is abroad in the world. He is sending to his professed church a message designed to heal her wounds, even the message of his soon coming. This message, this event, is the only remedy for the ills of the present time.

Conditions will grow worse; men will depart farther and farther from God; the causes for unrest will continue to multiply. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. But in the midst of it all, and out of the confusion and strife, out of the doubt, uncertainty, and darkness, God will bring a people who will make him their hope, and who will find in him and in his Word, abiding trust. Let this be our hope in the times before us, and let us point men to the Word of God as the only anchor which will hold them in the storm and stress of these evil times. We may not save the nations, nor yet the great multitude. We may not reform the great professed, but backslidden church, nor be able to regenerate society in general. But under God and through his grace, we may save individuals. Everywhere are hearts longing for light. These are to be the objects of our efforts. These we are to point to the great Source of light.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. . . . Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

F. M. W.