Signs of the Times

Standing on God's Side

with contributions from A. Harbinson, Robert Quillen, B. F. Lamb, Frances Huntington Martin, Francis B. Sayre, Charles A. Wells

The Rev. A. Harbinson in an address reported in the Ballymena Observer County Antrim, Northern Ireland

We are living in a wonderful time, the most wonderful in the history of the world. A great deal rests on us [as to] what the future is to be....

If we are for what God stands for, then all is well. Only one thing exalts a nation, and that is righteousness, standing for what is right not only in public life, but in your private life, standing for what is right and straight and honest and just. Unless we are doing these things, then God is not for us, and if God be not for us, then men shall not conquer—we shall not win.

Let us make it our business to see that we are on God's side, that we are with Him, and He will give us the courage, the daring, the strength and blessings that give us the victory. The only way to victory is through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Mediator and our Redeemer.

Robert Quillen in a column in The Evening Bulletin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The first [commandment] is to love God with all your heart and soul, and all your strength and understanding. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself. These two, we are told, comprise all the law and the teachers....

In these two commandments, which are so simple and clear that children can understand them, we are told the way to end all war and strife, all injustice and crime, all envy and greed and poverty, and all that is evil. Nobody asks whether such a plan would work. The most cynical will concede that it couldn't fail—if mankind would adopt it.

Why, in the name of common sense, do men continue to suffer when the know the cure? Find the reason for that folly and you will take the first step in saving mankind before other follies destroy it.

Dr. B. F. Lamb, executive secretary of the Ohio Council of Churches as quoted in the Vindicator Youngstown, Ohio

I offer this challenge confidently, in the name of all churches, that the Golden Rule be exalted in the case of any strife or strike whatever, and let the Golden Rule actually rule.

There is no other rule so applicable to all difficulties of man, nor any other which entails only good will and no regrets....

Let ... both the employed and the employers in church congregations ... take this message away with them, and let it grow as a seed blessed of God, and let us have many instances where the Golden Rule has full sway, and I know that conciliation will come and will be successful.

Confusion in the world today makes it more than ever necessary that we simplify our methods and our ideas, and cling more steadfastly to bedrock principle.

Frances Huntington Martin in the Michigan Christian Advocate Adrian, Michigan

How radiant and full of meaning is Jesus' view of life! Life has meaning, since God is our heavenly Father.... Life has a purpose, since God has planned from the foundation of the world that man should know Him and love and cooperate with Him. Life has purpose, since all men are to live together as children of God in one glorious family of God. All life finds its meaning in this purpose of the heavenly Father.... Let us make the Christian philosophy our working, everyday view of life!

From an editorial in the Lethbridge Herald, Alberta, Canada

"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good," is a great text. It may not be an easy thing to do. But what is Christianity if it does not lead us to do the hard things? Christianity is not a complacent religion. It is an active force in life if what is professed is sufficiently recognized and appreciated —the power of good in dispelling evil, the recognition of a God of good, of the influence good has over evil.

Francis B. Sayre, President of the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations in an address reported in The Corydon Democrat, Indiana

Christianity ... is not a way of escape. It is an intensely practical way of life for here and now. It is a unique and God-given revelation of the only possible foundation upon which a human society can be built that will satisfy the eternal demands of the human heart and thus prove stable and permanent. The choice between the pagan way of war or a peace built upon justice and Christian brotherhood will in all probability determine within the next decade or two the fate of western civilization.

Charles A. Wells in a column in the Lakewood Citizen, New Jersey

When we say that the church should do more, should have a greater influence in society, it means that we must do more, exert a greater influence upon the life around us. Jesus said very little about the ritual and robes of the church, but he said much about what a man must do to find the kingdom of God.

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