THEY CERTAINLY NEED PRAYERS.
By W. N. G.
“When the Maine was blown up in Havana harbor, three Christian Endeavor sailors were on board. How many scores and hundreds of our Endeavorers have sprung forward to take the places in the defense of their country left so sadly vacant by Jencks, Meilstrup, and Rushworth, there is no means of knowing, but undoubtedly there are many of them. Let us remember them all in our most earnest prayers.”—C. E. World. Yes, pray for them; they certainly need it. If any man in this world needs praying for, it is the professed follower of Christ who deliberately dons the world’s armor, seizes a carnal weapon, and seeks opportunity to slay his fellow-men. “For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Luke 9:56. There could not be a greater deception than to suppose that killing men is Christian endeavor. Imagine the inconsistency of “Christian” warriors going forward killing and wounding other “Christians,” and a third band of “Christians” having to follow after and bind up the wounds. Is not the death rate from ordinary and natural causes (an average of one a second) enough, without professed Christians rushing in to make it greater? The Christian’s commission is, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.” Shall we do this with sword and rifle and cannon and torpedo?—O, no; “for we wrestle not against flesh and blood;” and “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal”! Yes, pray for the men who are so deluded as to think it Christlike to take the life of even the bitterest foe. W. N. G.