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THE KING’S BUSINESS
w rILL THERE BE UNIVERSAL AND LASTING PEACE? Three days ago we heard a brilliant minister of the gospel from Boston in a “ rousing address” try to inspire hope in the hearts of people and inspire them to effort by telling them, as so many are telling us, in these days, that the outcome of the present war and the sure victory that is coming to the Allies, will be a universal and lasting peace, that there will be a league of righteous nations that will forever make war impossible among men. No wonder people like to think so. but is it so ? That there may be a temporary peace, and a wide spread peace, we think to be very likely, but no one who knows and believes his Bible can believe that it will be a permanent peace. God has told us distinctly in Dan. 9:26 (R. V .), that until the end of the present dispensation there “ shall be war.” O f course, there may be temporary and wide-spread peace, but this : dispensation ends in War, the most awful war the world has ever seen. The present century was ushered in with a great blare of trumpets and proclama tion that it was to be the most glorious century in the world’s history. We were told that wars should soon come to an end, and that the millennial predictions of the Word of God should be realized in the opening years of this century. Eighteen years of this century have already passed. The predictions of these superficial optimists have not been realized. On the contrary, we have been plunged into, such a war and into such a social, financial, political, and moral 'abyss as'the world has not known,* for centuries at least. There will be no uni versal and lasting peace until the Prince of Peace, Ow,- x.ord Jesus, comes and takes the reins of government. If the present Kaiser is not the antichrist, and we do not think he is, there will be another Kaiser, far more terrific and power ful than he, and there will be a reign of “ frightfulncss'’ such as the present Kaiser never dreamed of. But all this will simply be the precursor and prep aration for the glorious day that is surely coming, when “ the kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ: and He shall reign for ever and ever,” and in that day “ the earth shall be full of the knowl edge of the LORD, as the waters cover tire sea” (Isa. 11:9). Though we suf fer, and suffer greatly for a while, we need have no fear and no regrets, but always hear the Lord say in the midst pf the most severe testings, “ Fear not, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” ( Luke 12:32). ' - V ' ' . j Dr. Shailer Mathews of the Chicago University Divinity School, issued some time ago a pamphlet against premilienarianism, which ’ was sent very widely to ministers in this country. It was written in Dr. Mathews’ character istic, unfair and abusive style, a good deal after the manner of the article he published some years ago in The Constructive Review, denouncing the con servative theological seminaries of this country, and the Bible Institutes, and giving it to be understood that there were no scholars among the teachers in these institutions, and that all the scholarship in the country was monopolized by the type of theological opinion that he tries to represent. We exposed the childish folly of that attack at the time. Rev. Dr. Maclnnis, of the South Pres byterian Church, Syracuse, N. Y., wrote Dr. Shailer Mathews, September 27th, 1917, a letter that deserves a wide circulation, so we are presenting it here: D R. SHAILER MATHEWS AND THE PREMILLENARIANS.
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