p. 8 | Unrest and Discontent

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Sep 30, 1908

Unrest and Discontent

Unrest and Discontent.—Society is in a state of unrest and discontent all over the world. There is pronounced discontent and class struggle in Russia, India, Japan, China, France, Germany, England, the United States, and in almost all other parts of the world. This discontent is occasioned in most instances by a settled conviction that there are a few individuals who are favored above all their fellows; that the rich have all of the advantages and the blessings, and that the poor are being ground down more and more.

We may say that there is no occasion for this sentiment; we may say that the poor could better their conditions if they would only put forth the proper energy; but saying these things does not change the fact that the turmoil of feeling is there and is growing stronger and stronger all the time.

This is an age of gigantic organizations; not merely are there financial organizations, represented by the great corporations and trusts, but there are social organizations, represented by the powerful labor unions which are forming in all parts of the world. The telegraph, steamship, and railroad afford a splendid opportunity for uniting these discontented forces and bringing them into concerted action in all parts of the world. Master hands are reaching out for this purpose. The common observer everywhere admits that the clash must come sooner or later, and when it does come, it bids fair to be world-wide. The study of what will be the outcome of all of this becomes an exceedingly important and an intensely interesting one.

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Sunday and the Saloon Element in Kansas City.—Something like a year ago, Judge Wallace, of Kansas City, Mo., set out on a campaign to enforce the Sunday statutes of his city. He caused more than three thousand indictments to be returned against Sunday-law violators by the grand jury that he kept in power. He made a strong campaign to be continued in political power, and the great issue that he presented before the people was that of Sunday-law enforcement.

On one Sunday, by prearrangement, it was stated that something over fifteen hundred pulpits presented the claims of Judge Wallace for the votes of the people, but he was defeated at the primaries, and after the November election, will be retired to private life. It is stated that as soon as the judge was defeated, the theaters, pool-rooms, saloons, and other like houses, were thrown wide open in defiance of the law, believing that they had gained a decisive victory.

The principal difficulty with Judge Wallace's work is the fundamentally wrong principle of all Sunday legislation. It makes it a misdemeanor to do a thing on Sunday that is permitted on the other days of the week. If the saloon is allowed to run wide open on six days, and is closed only on Sunday, it is there just the same to do its wicked work, and will debauch the community just as much, if not more, by being allowed to operate under this sanction of law.

The facts in regard to what the saloon is doing in the way of filling our almshouses, our insane asylums, our penitentiaries, swelling our list of murderers, and all the rest of the crimes and evils of the day, are a sufficient reason why it should be outlawed on every day in the week. This is the only consistent ground that Christian people should ever think of taking.

Nothing is gained for temperance by closing the saloon on Sunday. All that is gained by Sunday laws is to settle by the civil state a religious question. It causes the state to say that Sunday is the Sabbath, when there is a constantly increasing number of honest and sincere individuals who believe the teaching of God's word that the seventh day, or Saturday, and not the first day, or Sunday, is the Sabbath of the Bible.

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The Word Like as a Fire.—God's instruction is: "The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. Is not My word like as a fire? saith the Lord; like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" Jer. 23: 28, 29. God's word must be upheld and urged upon the people of this generation as never before. God's word has the power in it to melt, as does a fire, every particle of evil out of the character, and purge it away from us; also like a hammer, it will break in pieces the stony heart of unbelief and wrongdoing, if it is only given an opportunity to act upon the mind. The world in general, and Christian people in particular, do not realize the actual life-giving strength and power that make up the sum and substance of all of God's words. If we realized the importance of this word as we should, it would be more closely studied, more deeply enjoyed, and more faithfully lived.

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Result of Hearing the Word.—The Master says: "He that hath My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." John 5: 24. This is a positive promise. This is a word of life and power. This is a word from Him who "spake as never man spake."

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His Presence.—While in the midst of one of his most difficult experiences, the Lord promised Moses: "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest," and Moses responded: "If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." Ex. 33: 14, 15. Moses' intimate association with the Lord was the secret of his power. He had power in his own life; he had power among the people with whom he associated. He has had power with every generation that has lived from his time to the present. The words that the Lord gave to the world through Moses are living and acting to-day. God proclaims Himself as being no respecter of persons, and that being the case, it is just as much the privilege of the individual to-day to have the presence of the Lord with him so that he may have a life of power, as it was for Moses in the day in which he lived.

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Showing Himself Strong.—The Lord desires to manifest His infinite strength in behalf of human weakness. Hear His inspiring words upon this point: "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him." 2 Chron. 16: 9. The Lord is seeking ever to win hearts to be perfect toward Him, and then His eyes are ever over them. Not that He may act the detective in discovering them in wrong-doing, but that He may show Himself strong in their behalf to preserve them from every evil deed. What an inspiration, what a blessed thought, what a citadel of power is this wonderful declaration of the Scriptures of truth! Another scripture is to the same effect: "For David speaketh concerning Him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is on my right hand, that I should not be moved." Acts 2: 25. God stands by us to establish us in righteousness, to keep us by the influence of His uplifting presence, to protect us by His mighty power.

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Worshiping the Creator.—We are exhorted to "worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." God designs that we shall meditate upon His power; that we shall frequently reflect upon the significance of all the great worlds that are about us in space; that we shall think upon this mighty world upon which we ourselves live; and as we study the great things that God has created, and think of the infinite power required to keep them moving harmoniously, we are encouraged to believe that He is able to perform all of His promises in our behalf. We are made to know that He can cleanse us from all sin, and that He is able to give us everlasting life. "Harken unto Me, O Jacob, and Israel My called; I am He; I am the first, I also am the last. Yea, My hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath spread out the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together." Isa. 48: 12. As you read your Bible, observe how frequently God calls attention to the fact that He is the mighty Creator of the earth and the planetary heavens. He desires that His children shall meditate upon His infinite ability and power. We must learn to intelligently worship the great Creator.