America's Place in the Line of Governmental Experiment
WHEN sin entered this world, the rights of men began to be denied, and civil government — a thing that never would have existed had not sin entered — was in the providence of God ordained.
Man, who was made in the image of his Creator, sinned. Like the one who caused him to sin, he became a rebel against divine government, and placed himself under the dominion of Satan, turning the liberty he had into license.
Made Imperative by Sin
Had man not sinned, the mind of Christ would have operated through the lives of all, and none would have been disturbed in the enjoyment of their rights. But man sinned. He was overcome of Satan. The mind of another than Christ ruled him, and the opposite of the fruits of the Spirit was seen in his life.
That opposite spirit ruling in man brought enmity between men. They began to deny to their fellows the rights and privileges they themselves enjoyed. Here God, in His all-wise providence, came to man's help, and ordained that, though in rebellion against God, he should be protected in his rights; and civil government — government among men, and by men, and for men — was instituted.
It must not be understood, however, that civil government is God's ideal. All the history of the world proves the opposite. So far as man is concerned, and so far as the nations of all time are concerned, government among men has failed to meet God's standard.
An Uninterrupted Series of Failures
Centuries before Christ, Assyria became the queen of ancient history. That "golden kingdom of a golden age," Babylon, was "weighed in the balances," and "found wanting."
Medo-Persia, like the empire she had vanquished, filled her cup of iniquity to the full, and was thrown down, never to rise again.
Wonderful Grecia, under Alexander the Great, entered the arena; but in a little while, she too went down into the cesspool of a world's iniquity, and was not.
Then the mighty iron monarchy of Rome seized the scepter of world empire, and set herself to the task of government. But so far short did Rome come in the matter of government that the great hordes of half civilized inhabitants of Europe, smarting under the greatest neglect of the centuries, trampled her under their feet. Then followed the ten kingdoms, with their various forms of government; and their record, so far as it concerns man's being free to enjoy the inestimable blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, is a miserable failure. All bear indisputable testimony that the ideal has not been reached; and the frightful and unparalleled conditions in Europe to-day hold out no hope whatever that it ever will be.
America's Noble Task
In the rise of America, a light shone out of the darkness, bidding men hope. Blessed of God, signally marked by His favor, separated from the failures of the centuries, she arose free from every entangling alliance, and men saw a new thing in the earth. The flickering spark of hope that had almost been extinguished, was fanned into a flame, and men took courage.
"A government of the people, by the people, and for the people" elbowed its way into the world. An astonished populace beheld it grow, its superstructure in government rooted in the fundamental principle of individual rights. For the first time in the history of the human race, a government set itself to the task of protecting the individual in the enjoyment of his individual rights.
The new government recognized the mistakes of the centuries in the matter of a man's individual relation to his fellows and to his God, and the new order of things became an inspiration to men everywhere.
The Incarnation of a Sublime Idea
The historian says of the United States: "It was long withheld, but it came at last, and about it center the best hopes of mankind. These United States — this America of ours, as we love to call it — is unlike any nation that has preceded or is contemporary with it. It is the conscious incarnation of a sublime idea — the conception of civil and religious liberty."—"History of the United States," Hawthorne, volume 1, page 2.
But the same historian, reviewing the years of her history, and her fall from her high estate, says:
"The exalted maxim of human equality was interpreted to mean that all Americans could be rich; and the spectacle was presented of a mighty and generous nation fighting one another for mere material wealth. Inevitably, the lower and baser element of the population came to the surface and seemed to rule; the ordinary citizen, on whom the welfare of the nation depends, allowed his private business interest to wean him from the conduct of public affairs, which thereby fell into the hands of professional politicians, who handled them for their personal gain instead of for the common weal. We forgot that pregnant saying, 'Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,' and suffered ourselves to be persuaded that because our written constitution was a wise and patriotic document, we were forever safe even from the effects of our own selfishness and infidelity."—Id., page 10.
Humanity's Last Hope
Let us look the situation over. What do we see? — Our nation in her political life passing the boundary of decency. We see her, in spite of all her advantages, and notwithstanding all the blessings and privileges enjoyed far beyond any other time or people, not only equaling but surpassing the Old World, and every other nation or empire that preceded it, in social corruption; and in degeneracy, so far as time is concerned, America has set the pace for the world.
In his speech "The Great Destroyer," the Hon. Richmond P. Hobson says: "In America, we are making the last stand of the great white race, and substantially of the human race. . . . If America fails, the world will be undone, and the human race will be doomed to go down from degeneracy to degeneracy till the Almighty in wrath wipes the accursed thing out."
The present speaker of the national House of Representatives, the Hon. Champ Clark, called America "the last hope of constitutional government on the whole face of the earth;" and as he saw the trend of thought broadcast throughout the country, "so puzzling, and so contradictory to our history and traditions," he said, "The evil one himself must have laid a spell upon the American mind, for the purpose of luring to its destruction this great republic."
Will America Prove Untrue?
This great nation, with all its possibilities and opportunities, the brightest and best that earth ever produced, born in due time in the providence of God and in the fulfillment of prophecy, has turned from the secret of her greatness, and is started down the path that leads to death. Diplomacy has indeed become "the art of lying." The word "politician," which once stood for a patriot, now is a synonym for "grafter." Civil and religious liberty is fast becoming a byword, and the individual rights of men are trampled in the dust.
America is indeed "the last hope of constitutional government on the whole face of the earth." So far as governments of earth are concerned, in America "we have reached the shores of the last ocean." Besides the outlook from the viewpoint of men, we have the outlook from the sure word of prophecy. Revelation 13 shows that this nation will forget the purpose of civil government; she will prove untrue to the principles that have been her life, and which she has held aloft as the ideal in government; she will violate her own constitution, which says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" she will deny "that all men are created equal;" and she will turn her back on the counsel of Gen. U. S. Grant, "Keep the state and the church forever separate."3(Continued on page 6)
Are Governments a Failure?
(Continued from page 2)
The dragon voice that down through the centuries has been heard denying to men their God-given, inalienable rights, both civil and religious, will be heard within our borders; and freedom of speech, and a free press, and the right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience, will be denied men.
In the face of a century and a quarter of liberty and blessing, will our government take its place in the line, and demonstrate itself a failure? This has ever been, from the beginning of history. Will it be until its close? Sin has overridden in the matter of human government to the extent that instead of protecting the individual in his rights, governments have denied them. Soon God will wind up the affairs of the kingdoms of men, setting up the everlasting kingdom of His own blessed Son. Then only will we reach the ideal in government. A race saved by the gospel will enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, in a kingdom that will stand forever.
Citizenship in that blessed kingdom is through the blood of Christ, and every blood-bought citizen will be a prince of royal blood — a child of the King. Citizenship in that glorious kingdom is offered to men who will forsake sin; and it is written, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son." Rev. 21: 7. God help us to seek that kingdom!
