PREPARING FOR THE LAST GREAT BATTLE.
By Mrs. E. P. Naylor
"A WORLD WAR" is the subject of an editorial article in one of our dailies of February 26. I quote:— All signs point to a world-wide war. This is the best reason for supposing that nothing of the sort will happen. The drift of the current is so evident that every power in the world is braced with all its might to stem the current. The fear of universal war is so great that the powers will forego advantages, suffer injury, or brook offense, rather than set a light to the pyre. But the pyre is ready. The writer then enumerates the moves which Russia may undertake, and the probable attitude of the other nations, and then says:— All the powers are so entangled with alliances that no one of them can act without involving all the rest, in which event even we might be forced to take a hand. The thing is too big to contemplate. It would be a burden too great for the combined resources of the world to bear. The nations are unanimous that it would be better to sacrifice almost anything rather than run such a risk. And yet, a very little thing, which any one nation could do, might start the fire which all the blood and tears in all the world would be powerless to quench. The leading statesmen of the world have been predicting for more than a decade that just such an event was impending. One said that the "crisis the world was bound to reach was so dreadful that thinking men refused to dwell upon it, and looked the other way rather than to face it." Another said, "The influences now at work point to a terrific struggle among the powers of the world, and the momentum with which the dreadful catastrophe is speeding down upon the world is such that no earthly power can arrest it." Yet another observed, "It must be the battle of Armageddon." If thinking men foresaw this climax in the past, who, in the light of more recent events, would claim that "the best reason for supposing that nothing of the sort will happen" was because the signs all point that way? Is it true that "the nations are unanimous that it would be better to sacrifice almost anything rather than run such a risk"? Why, then, do not those powers who have "acquired territory" or other "advantages" in the East, forego them in order to avoid war? Is it because they do not know to which of the nations it would be most politic for them to present their offering? Would it not settle all difficulties to hand it all over to Russia? She might be induced to accept the "sacrifice." But no, they all share Russia's fondness for a piece of China, if it is decorated more or less elaborately with profitable trading marts. They do not seem to be anxious, or even willing, to forego their evident intention to get more. Each one of them is preparing with might and main to strike when the auspicious time for individual aggrandizement shall have come, and "the pyre will be lighted which all the tears and blood in all the world will be powerless to quench." The nations have juggled together until they have each developed magicians, whose rods are invincible in their own estimation. In connection with the "Japan-Russian conflict," the World's Work for February says, "The greatest unsolved problems of the future may be thrust at once upon the world." The earliest predictions of this overthrow of the nations are recorded in the Book of books, and the conditions and causes there foretold are identical with those of which we read to-day. The greed, the selfishness, the ferocity of the nations, all are therein written in language too plain to be misunderstood: "The nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged." We also read of the gathering at Armageddon, when the kings of the earth and of the whole world are gathered together for the battle of the great day of God Almighty. God has declared it, and some of our greatest statesmen are constrained to believe that the crisis before us is in some way connected with it. And the extensive progress in military and naval enterprise, together with the increasing war spirit of the people, is, no doubt, an unwitting preparation for the final great gathering. In connection with the warning concerning this great battle, the people of God have also the following admonition: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." Are you ready for the issue? or are you "entangled with alliances" in the world's affairs, which will unfit you to stand the test of the judgment? Remember, there is no appeal from the decisions of this court, and it behooves you to secure an Advocate, in whom you can place all your trust. There is only one name in heaven or on earth "whereby we must be saved." Place your case in His hands without delay, for the hour grows late, and all too soon the court will adjourn forever.