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THE PEOPLE'S FRIEND

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 25, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 4.

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THE PEOPLE'S FRIEND.

By J. A. Edgerton

All hail the Christ of Nazareth, Who came to banish strife, He took the bitterness from death, The hopelessness from life. He gave to faith a mode of speech It ne'er had known before; But, best of all, He came to preach The Gospel to the poor.
Altho the dawn of glory broke Upon His natal morn, He came from poor and humble folk, And He was lowly born. He was a common carpenter; He labored for His bread. On all the earth He had not where To lay His weary head.
In humble guise and simple dress, He went from place to place. He deigned to share earth's wretchedness, To save a fallen race. Altho He left a legacy, The richest ever known, He lived Himself in poverty, With naught to call His own.
Unto the toiling multitude He opened heaven's gate,, But said the rich should not intrude Into that blest estate. He said that Mammon's sordid slaves Could never be the Lord's; He smote the money-changing knaves With whip of plaited cords.
From scribe and priest and Pharisee He tore the cloak of fraud. He recognized no royalty Excepting that of God. Degrees and castes to Him were naught, Within His splendid plan, He knew but equals; and He taught The brotherhood of man.
He sought to make this warring earth More like the world above. He sought to bring a state to birth, Built on the law of love; A state of charity and peace, Of good-will unto men, Where all should share the world's increase, And He should come again.
He pointed to the highest good, The truest liberty. He taught that love and brotherhood Alone can make us free. If men would follow His commands, The clouds would roll away, And, breaking over all the lands, Would come the grander day.
He was the poor man's dearest Friend, The truest ever known. The things He taught would bring an end To Shylock, bond, and throne; Would put a stop to greed and war; Would free the world from hate; And on the future's shining shore, Would plant the social state.
O Carpenter of Nazareth, We need Thy presence now; Thy people still are led to death, The thorns upon their brow! A prayer for Thee, o'er all the earth, Comes from the toiling throng, To bring the better day to birth, And free the world from wrong.
J. A. EDGERTON.