The Conflict in Our Day
By C. M. S.
This is the day of big things, of culminations in many lines. It is indeed a privilege to be living in a day when this old world is ripening for the great harvest, to see the inventive genius of men reaching its climax in so many different directions. It was not much over a half-century ago that the railroad, the telegraph, and the cable under the sea were as much of an innovation and as much of a curiosity as are the flying-machine, the submarine, and the wireless telegraph. In the days of Cyrus Field the spirit of invention was not what it is to-day. After a short period of successful operation, his cable was permitted to lie dead under the ocean for eight years, and it took seven weeks for the news of the battle of Waterloo to reach America. To-day the world is covered with a network of railways, cables, and telegraph-lines, and the wireless telegraph stations are dotting every land, so that now any item of important news will beat the sun around the world by more than twenty hours. Is it not a fact of striking significance that all the important inventions that have added so much to the convenience of the public and have made the world one great neighborhood have come within the last seventy-five years? But these are developments in the temporal or material world. They deal with temporal or material things. Nevertheless, they but add significance to the movements on foot during this generation that deal with things spiritual. With many, old religious ideas have been swept away entirely, and new bases have been adopted for religious thought by the multitude. The philosophies of infidelity and atheism have ensconced themselves in the theological chairs of colleges and universities, and the products of those institutions have taken the place of the minister in the pulpits of many church edifices. The pews have become infected with the same philosophies, and so it has come about that spiritual poison has been taking the place of spiritual food at the table of the "Lord's house." Spiritual dearth and spiritual death were bound to result, and have resulted.7With this have come Christian Science, New Theology, New Thought, the Emmanuel Movement, theosophy, and other weird religious systems of the Orient, and with all these a remarkable revival in infidelity. The result of this combination of antichristian systems has been simply that self and self-service have become more prominent than ever in the activities of the people; and this we see demonstrated on every hand. It is demonstrated in the great fortunes that are being piled up by professedly religious individuals without any regard for the golden rule or any of the requirements of the Christian religion. These are truly wonderful times. It could not be that they could go on forever with such developments coming in the future as have in the past, and in the same or increased ratio. The statement of Inspiration that "many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased," has a striking fulfilment in our day, no matter which of the three or more interpretations is given to that text. But these very developments in material and spiritual things are serving to line up the inhabitants of this world in two companies, with a clear line of distinction between them,—those who will stand stanchly for the Word of God as given, and for loyalty to the law of God, which is the basis of that Word, and those who in some one or more of many ways will turn from that Word and its requirements and weave themselves solidly into the woof of this world and its destiny. There will be nothing like numerical equality between these two classes, and yet they are both composed of judgment-bound creatures; both have an account to render to him who gave that Word and laid down the law which is for each and all the touchstone of character. The attitude of loyalty of one of these classes toward God's Word makes them his remnant people, and keepers of his holy Sabbath, the seventh day of the week; and that attitude also makes it possible for the Creator to entrust them with his last message to this world. The reason is evident. God can not entrust his last and most important message for this world to a class who have turned their backs upon his Word, and have refused to render obedience to his commands. There is no neutral ground; there can be none. The gospel of Jesus Christ is in the world at the present time to demonstrate whether men will serve God, or whether they will enter the service of the adversary. There can not be two opposing kingdoms in the universe. It is to be either the kingdom of light or the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of righteousness or the kingdom of iniquity; and no man can say, I will be neutral; I will not choose either. That would at once establish a third dominion where now there are but the two. When God is through with sin, it and all its results will be wiped out; and one of the results of sin is the man who tries to be neutral between good and evil, righteousness and iniquity, God and his adversary. There is no neutral ground now, and there is absolutely no promise of place or reward in the kingdom of God for the man who has sought to be neutral in the controversy between God and the enemy of his government. So the most important thing in this world for us to decide is what our attitude shall be toward God, his Word, his law, and his last message. A right relation to these will mean an abundant entrance into the eternal kingdom of righteousness.