THE KING’S BUSINESS 0 = I^ W f Vol. 8 NOVEMBER, 1917 No. 11 E D I T O R I A L The Fleming H. Revell Publishing Company, 158 Fifth Another Lincoln Avenue, New York City, has the following proclama- N e ed ed . tion of Abraham Lincoln, made on the 30th day of March, A. D. 1863, pasted in its main show window on Fifth Avenue, with a comment to this effect: “Could any ruler today make a proclamation like this? If not, why not?” BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA— A PROCLAMATION WHEREAS, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the supreme authority and ju st government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and nations, has by a#resolution requested the President to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and hum iliation; and WHEREAS, it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope th at genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime tru th , announced in the Holy Scriptures and .proven by all history, th at those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord; . .. , . , And, insomuch as we know th at by His divine law nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishm ents and chastisem ents in this world, may we not justly fear th at the awful calamity of civil war which now désolâtes the land may be but a punishm ent iijflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have .been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity ; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand#which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, th at all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God th at made us. It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness. .* . . . Now, therefore, in-compliance, with the request, and fully concurring in the views Of the Senate, I do by this my proclamation designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. _And I do hereby request all the people to abstain on th at day from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite at their several places of public worship and their respective homes in keeping the day holy to the Lord and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to th at solemn occasion. < ■#r. All this being done in sincerity and tru th , let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the divine teachings th at the united cry of the nation will be heard on high and answered w ith blessings no less than the pârdon of our national sins and the restoraiton of^ our now divided and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and peace. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. . , _ „„„ . . , _ . t Done at the city of W ashington, this 30th day of March, A. D., t863, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Those who object to the Bible doctrine that God answers prayer have been very fond of bringing up the objection that in times of war Christian people on opposite sides are both praying for victory, and of
How Can God Answer Prayer?
course God cannot possibly answer both. They seem to think that this is a knockout argument against the doctrine that God answers prayer. But those who bring forward this objection show their,utter ignorance of the Bible doctrine of prayer. The Bible does not teach that God answers everybody’s prayers: it teaches that He answers the prayers of those who are abiding in Christ (John 15:7). Furthermore, the Bible does not teach that God grants
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