5^4 HE WORLD WAR IN ROPHECY THE DOWNFALL OF THE KAISER AND THE END OF THE DISPENSATION Class Book KA ^ COFmiGHT DEPOSm The World War in Prophecy The Downfall of the Kaiser and The End of the Dispensation A BY Rev. H. C. MORRISON, D. D. Author of "World Tour of Evangelism," "Life Sketches and Sermons," 'The Second Coming," "Romanism and Ruin." "The Two Lawyers," "Thoughts for the Thoughtful." "The Confessions of a Backslider," "Prophecies Ful- filled and Fulfilling," Etc. FIRST EDITION PENTECOSTAL PUBLISHING COMPANY LOUISVILLE. KENTUCKY Copyright, 1917, by Pentecostal Publishing Company. M/\R i6 1^18 ©CI.A492592 DEDICATION. This book is affectionately dedicated to Mrs. Mary A. Crawford, of Madison, Georgia, whose helpful sympathy and prayers have followed me through many years of arduous toil, and whose liberality has proven a great blessing to Asbury College. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Chapters. Page. 1. A Few Great Facts 7 II. The Prophetic Method of Reve- lation 15 III. Nebuchadnezzar's Image 25 IV. Satan's Ambition to Rule the World 35 V. The Purpose of the Kaiser 41 VI. The Horrors of the War 49 VII. Uncle Sam to the Rescue 57 VIII. The Pacifists 69 IX. When the War is Over— What ? . 79 X. The Coming Kingdom 89 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Gen. 1:1, "The heavens declare the glory of God ; the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge." Psa. 19:1,2. "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." Isa. 46:10. CHAPTER I. A Few Great Facts. We desire, in the beginning of the dis- cussions to follow, to call attention to a few great facts, the first of which is, that this universe did not come into existence by accident, and is not governed by chance. God created all things, and placed the whole under law, and His supreme will reigns over all. HE HAS A DEFINITE PROGRAM for the direction and control of all affairs upon this planet. He cannot be hurried, and He cannot be retarded or diverted from His Program, Nothing is done by chance in the administration of His King- dom, but all things move with beautiful order and harmony, and the great events of history come to pass at their appointed time. (7) 8 The World War in Prophecy, Few subjects of study can be more enter- taining and profitable to the devout mind, than to search the Scriptures in order to find out just where we are in the Divine program of the history of our world. The second fact, to which we call atten- tion is this : GOD HAS BROKEN TIME UP INTO AGES, OR DISPENSATIONS. Each dispensation closes with the judg- ments of God upon the wicked; the sift- ing out of the wheat from the chaff; and, each dispensation prepares the way for a larger revelation, aind a better age. The first dispensation closed with the Flood. After ample warning and oppor- tunity for repentance, God swept away the rebellious multitudes, sparing only eight righteous souls, Noah and his family. For a long time the memory of the Flood, with its fearful lesson, the fact that God would send His judgments upon the wicked, had a salutary effect upon the race, and pre- pared the way for the calling of Abraham, The World War in Prophecy. 9 and the inauguration of the Hebrew dis- pensation. The Hebrew dispensation was a time of great revelation and blessing; the knowl- edge of God was largely spread through the earth. In the development of the race, the understanding of the Divine character, and the Divine government, it far sur- passed the antediluvian age. The chosen people, the Israelites, however, were prone to backsliding, and reached the climax of wickedness in the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. John the Baptist pointed to the coming end of this dispensation when he declared, "The axe is laid unto the root of the trees." The tree of the Hebrew dispensation was hewn down when the Roman army cap- tured Jerusalem and carried her people into captivity from which they have not been restored. When our Lord Jesus on the cross ex- claimed, "It is finished,'^ He not only meant 10 The World War in Prophecy. that in the giving up of His life the great work of the atonement was finished, but the age — a dispensation — ^had come to its closing chapter; a new and higher order of things was to be introduced into the world. The Christian Church was to be organized, and the Gospel dispensation ushered in, which in contrast with any other dispensation of the past, was far to outshine them all. The world of mankind has made far more progress in everything that goes to contribute to human happiness, during the Gospel dispensation, than during all the ages of the past. Under the enlightenment of the Gospel, general civilization has spread among the nations of the earth. Almost all the inhabitants of the world have felt, to some extent, the benefits of the gracious influence of the Gospel age. The great discoveries of nature's resources and the adaptation of those resources to the needs of men, v/ith the innumerable in- The World War in Prophecy, 11 ventions that have helped forward human progress, have come to us through the quickening and enlightenment of the hu- man intellect through the gracious influ- ence of the Gospel. Truly Christ's coming has not only brought life, but it has brought us life more abundant. It is safe to say that the light of the present dis- pensation, as contrasted with any past age, is as the Morning Star in its beauty, com- pared to the glow-worm in the swamp. The Christian reader will remember that in the Divine program there is to come another dispensation, which will sur- pass the present as far as the Gospel dis- pensation surpasses the Hebrew age. As the Hebrew prepared the way for this, this is preparing the way for the golden age foretold in prophecy, in which the Lord Jesus Christ Himself shall reign supreme ; when men shall learn war no more, when swords are beaten into plowshares, and spears into pruning-hooks ; when peace and 12 The World War in Prophecy, fraternity shall pervade the entire earth; when the kingdoms of this world shall be- come the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ; when the knowledge of the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. The third fact to which we call attention is this: In revealing Himself, His laws, His will, and His love for the human race, God has chosen largely the PROPHETIC METHOD. He has spoken to holy men, and sent them to declare His will and testimony to His people. By means of this method God has given us a revelation capable of positive proof, placing the Bible entirely beyond the possibility of guesswork or for- gery, on the high and solid foundation of absolute trustworthiness. The prophetic method enables us to prove by the well- known facts of history, that the holy Seers of old were inspired by the Holy Ghost to speak and to write. *Tor prophecy came not of old time by the will of man : but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Pet. 1 :21. ''And the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the Prophets, rising early and sending them ; but ye have not heark- ened, nor inclined your ear to hear." Jer. 25:4. CHAPTER II. The Prophetic Method of Revelation. We have every reason to believe that the God v>^ho created the universe, Who built this v^orld and placed upon it intelligent, moral beings, will reveal Himself to these beings. It is in harmoy v^ith the eternal fitness of things that v^e should find among men just such a book as the Bible — a rev- elation from God. And it is eminently proper and to be desired, that the Bible be of such a character that its Divine origin is self-evident; that it contain in and of itself, positive proof of its inspira- tion. We do not propose any general dis- cussion of the various evidences of the genuineness of Christianity, and the proofs of the Divine origin of the Holy Scriptures, but we do wish to impress upon our read- ers the fact that one of the clearest and (15) 16 The World War in Prophecy, most satisfactory evidences of the inspira- tion of the Bible is found in the prophecies contained in the Scriptures, and their very- remarkable and minute fulfillment. It was the wisdom of God to give us the Holy Scriptures in two books; or, to be more accurate, in the collection of a num- ber of books in two volumes — ^the Old and the New Testament. The Old Testament was written long before the New. The Old Testament is fully endorsed, and lib- erally quoted by our Lord Jesus and His Apostles, who were the authors of the New Testament. The Old Testament is largely made up of prophecies; the New Testament is largely a record of the ful- fillment of those prophecies. An American scholar has wisely said, "The New Testa- ment is shut up in the Old, and the Old Testament is opened up in the New." These two collections of books splendidly confirm the truthfulness and reliability of each other. As might be supposed, God The World War in Prophecy, 17 proposed to give a living revelation of Himself of such character that its truth- fulness could be proven beyond all possi- bility of cavil or doubt. It was His wis- dom to take into His counsels holy men of old, to whom He revealed the secret of the ages, and while they taught the people of their times their obligations to God and their fellow-beings, the blessings to be se- cured hy obedient and virtuous living, and the disaster which would inevitably befall the wicked and rebellious, they also looked far into the future and predicted the com- ing events of human history with such accuracy and detail that the Scriptures are lifted entirely out of the realm of uncer- tainty, or the possibility of human for- gery, on to the high plain of absolute and positive proof of their Divine origin and inspiration. The great pivotal events of the history of the world are so faithfully foretold and so accurately described by the ancient 18 The World War in Prophecy. prophets, that there is but one possible way to account for their knowledge of coming events, and that is, they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Before the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, Moses prophesied their apostasy and final dispersion among their heathen captors. The fall of Babylon was faith- fully predicted by a holy prophet when the city in its riches, splendor and strength looked as if it could withstand every foe, and wear out the ages. Prophet after prophet foretold the fall of Jerusalem when their warnings were sneered at by an arrogant and rebellious people, who were hurrying forward to their doom, so faithfully portrayed by the prophets of the Lord. Seven hundred years before the angelic choir startled the Shepherds as they watched their flocks an Judean hills, the Prophet Micah had pointed out the coun- try, and named the village, where the The World War in Prophecy, 19 Lord Jesus should be born, when he wrote : "But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel." Centuries afterward, when the Wise Men, following the star, came to Jerusalem, in- quiring where Christ should be born, as- serting that they had seen His star in the East and had come to worship Him, Herod the king, was greatly troubled, and all Je- rusalem with him, and he demanded of the chief priests and scribes where Jesus should be born ; they answered him : "In Bethlehem of Judea : for thus it is written by the prophet." They referred him to the same prophecy of Micah, quoted above. It is interesting to note the fact that the prophets go into very minute details in some of their descriptions of future events, so that there is absolutely no ac- counting for their knowledge of these de- tails except on the basis of their Divine 20 The World War in Prophecy, inspiration. Many hundreds of years be- fore our Lord made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, we find the prophet Zech- ariah proclaiming, ''Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lovely, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.*' Turning to Matthew's Gospel, 21st chapter, we find this prophecy was fulfilled in every detail. No one of the ancient prophets had a clearer insight into the person and mis- sion of our Lord Jesus, than Isaiah. So clear is his vision, and so minute and ac- curate are his descriptions, that hundreds of years before the birth of the Savior he puts down incidents which occurred in His life as if they had already taken place. He describes His humble person; he tells of His patient and silent sufferings: "He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so The World War in Prophecy, 21 He opened not His mouth. He was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon Him ; and with His stripes we are healed. He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death." Then the prophet's horizon is lifted and he beholds the gracious outcome and results of the sufferings of our Lord, and exclaims in triumph, "He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be sat- isfied." This 53rd chapter of Isaiah's prophecy is so perfectly fulfilled in the his- tory of Christ's sufferings, as we find them recorded in the Gospel, that the Christian may rejoice in the absolute certainty of the Divine inspiration of the holy prophet. King David was not only the Psalm writer for Israel, but he was also a proph- et, and is constantly referring in the Psalms to our Lord Jesus. Among other things, he describes an incident which oc- curred at the foot of the Cross on the day of the crucifixion. The Psalmist says. 22 The World War in Prophecy, "They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture." This was written many hundred years before the tragic event on Calvary. But Matthew, in the 27th chapter and 35th verse, shows how accurately this prophecy of the Psalm- ist was fulfilled: 'They parted My gar- ments among them, and upon My vesture did they cast lots." We cannot understand how any intelli- gent, fairminded being, reading this an- cient prophecy and its remarkable fulfill- ment, will be able to question the Divine inspiration of the Psalmist David. Again, David says, speaking of Christ, ''He keep- eth all His bones: not one of them is broken." In John, 19th chapter, it reads : "Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs. For these things were done, that the Scripture The World War in Prophecy, 23 should be fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be broken." It will be remembered that the soldier did, in order to ascertain whether our Lord was actually dead, pierce His side with a spear, while his companions stood gazing on to see if the spear would bring forth any manifestation of life. This was in fulfillment of a prophecy in Zechariah 12 : 10 : "And they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced." We might give enough prophecies with their fulfillment to fill a large volume, but what we have given is amply suflftcient to prove the trustworthiness of the prophe- cies contained in the Holy Scriptures. **And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings ; he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know un- derstanding. He revealeth the deep and secret things: He knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him." Dan. 2:21, 22. CHAPTER III. Nebuchadnezzar's Image. While much of prophecy clusters about the world's Redeemer, predicting His coming, His teaching. His sufferings and death. His resurrection and triumph, it must be understood that the prophets also foretold many things concerning world history, and the great events which are to occur as the Divine program goes forward to the final exaltation and glory, when He shall be crowned King of kings, and Lord of lords. One of these prophecies which is^of special interest at the present time, is to be found in the second chapter of the book of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Bab- ylon, in a dream saw a great image. Its head was of gold, its breasts and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs were of brass, its legs of iron, and its feet part of (25) 26 The World War in Prophecy, iron and part of clay. The King also saw in his vision that a stone was cut, without hands, which smote the image upon his feet, and broke in pieces the en- tire image, until it became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried it away; but the stone which smote the image, became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. The reader who is acquainted with the book of Daniel will recall that Nebuchad- nezzar had the dream but entirely forgot details. Being troubled to know its mean- ing, he called for his astrologers and wise men, and demanded that they should tell him the dream and its interpretation. The wise men insisted that he should tell the dream, and they would give the interpre- tation. At this he became angry and de- clared that all the wise men of Babylon should be slain. When Daniel was sought by the executioner he asked for time, and went to God in prayer Who gave him both The World War in Prophecy. 27 the dream, and its interpretation, which Daniel explained to the full satisfaction of the king. The very fact that Daniel gave to the king his own dream, in all its details, convinced the king that its inter- pretation was fully trustworthy. Daniel's interpretation of the dream re- vealed the fact that there were to be four great world empires, of which Nebuchad- nezzar, representing the head of gold, was the first, reigning over the Babylonian em- pire. The second empire represented by the breast of silver, was the Medo-Persian, which was soon to follow. And the third, represented by the belly and thighs of brass, was the Grecian empire which over- threw the Medo-Persian. The fourth world empire which overthrew the Gre- cian, was the Roman, which was repre- sented by the legs of iron, and is described as being exceedingly fierce and destructive. These prophecies of Daniel, describing the image to Nebuchadnezzar, have been 28 The World War in Prophecy. remarkably fulfilled. Had the Roman empire been followed by another great world empire, Daniel's prophecy would have broken down, and history would have proven him inaccurate ; but fortunately for the Bible, the Word of God, which never makes mistakes, and cannot fail, true to Daniel's description of the image, at the fall of the Roman empire, many smaller kingdoms, representing the toes of this image, were set up, and have existed ever since the breaking up of the Roman em- pire. We are now in that period of historj'' represented by the toes of the image ; and the reader will remember that these toes were part of iron, and part of clay, repre- senting the strength and weakness of the kingdom of the world today. Any one who knows anything of world conditions is well aware of the fact that there is a state of division and strife among the peoples of all nations at the present time. The great The World War in Prophecy, 29 war now in progress has had quite a ten- dency to unite the people of the various nations for self -protection. It is claimed by some, and not without sound argument, that Germany hurried up this war in order to save her own nation from an internal revolution brought on by the rapid growth of radical socialism. Those acquainted with current history, are well aware of the fact that there have re- cently been great internal disturbances in Spain, and Alfonzo has been trembling on his throne. Mexico has been a slaughter pen of internal strife, Greece has been rent asunder, Ireland was on the verge of open rebellion and war against England when the great war broke out. Social disturb- ance and conflict between labor and cap- ital, have menaced the peace and pros- perity of these United States for years. Since the Russo-Japanese war Russia's in- ternal conditions have been like a smoking volcano, trembling with the constant threat of fearful eruption. 30 The World War in Prophecy, World conditions immediately before our great war are accurately described by the iron and clay — ^the strength and weakness — foretold in the toes of the great image. We do not see how any one who believes the Bible to be an inspired book, can con- sistently reject the prophecies of Daniel; and we do not see how any one who be- lieves DanieFs prophecy can reasonably evade the fact that we are in the very "toe age" of the great image; and this brings us face to face with the glorious fact that we are rapidly approaching the time when the stone, which is the King- dom of Christ, is to break in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms, and fill the whole earth. Daniel, describing this period of the di- vision of the great Roman empire into many smaller kingdoms, and the mixed and weakened condition of these kingdoms, says, "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which The World War in Prophecy. 31 shall never be destroyed : and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these king- doms, and it shall stand forever." It is an interesting fact, and well worth the serious consideration of thinking peo- ple, everywhere, that just at this time, when the prophetic finger points to the closing of a dispensation, that the great war should have broken out, involving practically, all nations in a destructive strife without parallel in the history of the world. It looks as if the breaking up of the kingdoms was at least in its begin- nings. A number of kings are at the present time in exile, and it is the very general prophecy of thoughtful statesmen that some of the world*s greatest empires will go to pieces, and some of the most powerful thrones will be vacated and de- stroyed at the close of the war. There is one thing absolutely certain : if DanieFs prophecies are trustworthy, we 32 The World War in Prophecy, are rapidly approaching the end of this dispensation, and the inauguration of a far better one. Daniel's prophecies are trust- worthy because his interpretation of the different parts of the image has been lit- erally fulfilled, and is plainly written in the pages of secular history. The four great kingdoms have arisen, flourished, and fallen. The territory once occupied by these vast empires is now occupied by a number of smaller kingdoms, and these kingdoms, partly strong and partly broken, are before our eyes today in actual current history. Daniel's prophecies, in their re- markable fulfillment up to the present time, prove him trustworthy. Shall we not lift up our heads with hope, that the coming of our Lord draweth near ! "How art thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning ! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God : I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north : I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ; I will be like the most High.'' Isa. 14:12, 13, 14. CHAPTER IV. Satan's Ambition to Rule the World. The Scriptures teach us that through ambition to exalt himself to supreme ru- lership, a great angel became the devil. From the Scriptures we also learn that since his fall he has constantly sought ab- solute rulership of this planet and its in- habitants, and while he has met with a large degree of success, he has not yet been able to boast himself of complete mastery. Satan is a great counterfeiter. It seems he has always sought to find out the Divine plan, and as nearly as possible, imitate God's scheme of government, to deceive the people and bring them under his sway. God determined in the redemption of the race and the restitution of order and hap- piness in the world, to incarnate Himself in humanity, to blend two natures into one, to give the world a great King Who com- (35) 36 The World War in Prophecy. bined in Himself the humanity which en- abled Him to sympathize with men, and the Deity which enabled Him to save men. For many centuries Satan has been seek- ing to follow something of the same method in world government. His plan has been to bring the whole world under the government of one man, and to bring that man under his control, filling that man with his spirit of merciless cruelty, and thus governing the earth himself through a human agent. Several times in past history he has made remarkable success in this effort, and will no doubt come more nearly approx- imating that success in the Man of Sin, frequently referred to in the Scriptures, who is to appear in the closing days of this dispensation. All of the great world rulers in the earlier history of the human race, were not only men of marvelous power, but of desperate wickedness. Alexander the Great was no doubt a The World War in Prophecy. 37 supreme effort of Satan to produce a man of sin, who should rule the world with des- potic tyranny, robbing man of the liberty and happiness planned for him by his Maker. He was followed by Julius Caesar who sought to rule the whole world ; and he was followed by Napoleon Bonaparte, a marvelous military genius, almost a super- man, who shook the world with his pow- erful armies, and who was as merciless as he was brilliant. The human suffering which his insatiable ambition entailed up- on the race is incalculable. It has been so with all the monstrous men who, in- spired by Satan, have sought world power, and heedless of the devastation and ruin which they have spread abroad among their feilov/ beings, have used all their large capacities, no doubt quickened and increased by the inspiration of Satan him- self. Satan's last effort to date, for world ru- lership, has headed up in the German 38 The World War in Prophecy, Kaiser. It is not to be supposed that any of these men who have aspired to world rulership, understand that their ambition has been inspired by the devil. They have doubtless believed themselves to be bene- factors. By some strange method of rea- soning they convinced themselves that they ought to rule ; that their undisputed sway would be best for the race ; that they would be able to introduce a better social order among men. This is evidently true of the Kaiser. He does not dream that he is the agent of the devil; that Satanic influence dominates his mind, and has nursed and developed in him a proud and arrogant ambition through the years to control and become the military dictator of the world. While the Kaiser makes loud and fre- quent religious professions, and believes himself to be the agent of the God of heav- en, his spirit and methods demonstrate the fact that he is the agent of the god of this world. Never in the history of the race, The World War in Prophecy, 39 has any military chieftain shown himself more indifferent to the laws of civilization, more callous and merciless, deaf and in- different to the cries of suffering human- ity than the German Kaiser during the progress of this great world war. We can- not recall a single action that, in the least degree, suggests that he has been for one moment influenced by the Spirit of the Prince of Peace, or governed by the holy God of compassion and mercy. It will be remembered that directly after His baptism, Jesus was taken to a high mountain by the devil, where He was shown the kingdoms and glory of this world. Satan claimed to own them, and offered them to Christ if He would wor- ship Him ; make Satan His god ; place Sa- tan first, in world rulership. While the devil was offering a great prize, and no doubt lying, he was careful to reserve for himself the highest place. If he bestowed the gift which he proposed, Christ must worship him. "The devil taketh him up into an ex- ceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him. All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." Matt. 4:8, 9. CHAPTER V. The Purpose of the Kaiser. There is no doubt but Satan has had the German Kaiser upon the high mountain of temptation, and has offered him world power. It is hardly likely that he appears to the Kaiser in his true character. It is quite probable that he manifests him- self as the angel of German "kul- tur." He succeeded in making the Kaiser believe that he was the god of the universe when, in fact, he is only the god of this world ; and under the delusion that he was the vicegerent of heaven to set up a better order of things on the earth. The deluded and devil-possessed Kaiser has proceeded to turn the earth into one vast slaughter pen. There are no figures with which we can sum up and calculate the human suffering which the world has passed through during (41) 42 The World War in Prophecy, the present great war. It was not enough that the Kaiser himself should be obsessed with a diabolical passion to dictate world affairs, but the people of Germany must be so brought under his influence, and the domination of the deluded and ensavaged men who surrounded his throne, that they would become the ready and willing agents in the wreck and ruin of the nations of the earth. For the past seventy-five years destruc- tive critics in the pulpits, colleges and uni- versities, of the Central Empire, have pre- pared the German people for the merciless slaughter of today. A people to carry out the orders of the Kaiser and his great gen- erals, must be weaned away from the plain teachings of the Holy Scriptures. They must imbibe the doctrines of evolution. They must believe the race to be on its way up, having just about arrived at the ferocious stage of the tiger. They must feel that irreverence for hu- The World War in Prophecy. 43 manity of which men will be easily capable when they conclude themselves and their fellow-beings to be a well developed breed of apes. There is no doubt or question in our minds but the destructive critics of the great universities and pulpits of Germany have succeeded in making the German sol- dier what he is today — a furious, merci- less, mad-man — the dread of all the earth, the heartless butcherer of unarmed men and helpless women, with their babes at their breasts. From the very first, the German army has seemed to take a fiendish delight in destruction. They have turned beautiful cities into smouldering heaps of ruin and ashes, where no military advantage was to be gained. They have wasted tons of am- munition in the destruction of beautiful temples erected for the worship of God. They have outraged women, destroyed homes, broken up furniture, slaughtered 44 The World War m Prophecy. dumb brutes, chopped down fruit trees, and if there is anything that they have left undone in the way of merciless destruc- tion, that an army of fiends, out of the pits of perdition could accomplish, we fail to understand what it could have been. Satan inspired the Kaiser with his un- governable ambition. He rallied around him the blood-thirsty leaders of his co- horts. He saturated the German nation with skeptical teaching which destroyed the pure faith of Christian religion. He wrote question marks all over the Holy Scriptures; he brought them to deny and ridicule the inspiration of the sacred Book. They have questioned the Deity of Jesus Christ, and ridiculed the faith in Him which saves men from sin, and spreads abroad the spirit of fraternity and Chris- tian fellowship. They have boasted that they would write a new Bible. Long be- fore the Emperor drew his sword in this fearful world war, German destructive The World War in Prophecy, 45 criticism had become the plague of the re- ligious world. The unbelief fostered in their universities, was spreading abroad and doing great harm and hurt to the whole spirit of evangelical religion throughout the world. No country or de- nomination has escaped the baneful influ- ence of the skeptical scholarship of the German universities. Those arrogant teachers and preachers in this country who are following the lead of the destructive critics of Germany, are the most dangerous enemies of the Church, of society, and of this great republic. The men who destroy the faith of the people in the reliability and authority of the Word of God, do the people and the nation irre- parable injury. If Germany had been saturated with evangelical Bible truth, had the pure Gos- pel of a free and full salvation been faith- fully preached throughout this nation, the 46 The World War in Prophecy. present war, with its heartless cruelties, would have been a moral impossibility. The religious and political literature of Germany reveals two great facts which ac- count for present world conditions. One is, that the moulders of thought in Ger- many, with rare exceptions, have surren- dered the faith in the inspiration of the Scriptures; and the other is, they have come to be devoted believers in war. They believe it is right to trample under fuot the weaker nations of the earth; to go to any extent of the ruthless destruction of life and property in order to carry out their ideas of absolutism. Turning from Christ and His Gospel, they have come to worship ODIN, the god of war. The number and character of the books on war, written by leading Germans with- in the last few years, is startling, and re- veals the fact that the entire moral atmos- phere of the nation was soaked and sat- urated with the spirit of militarism, and The World War in Prophecy, 47 the erroneous and diabolical notion that "might makes right." In the light of all the facts at hand it cannot be doubted thai the Kaiser and his coadjutors, while they have secretly planned and manufactured the great cannon of which the world knew nothing, the U-boat which they brought to an unsuspected perfection, and the Zeppe- lin, with its murderous bombs to rain upon the helpless people of undefended cities, and have had as the one end in view, world poiver. Undoubtedly, the devil has had the Kaiser up in an exceeding high mountain ; and unconsciously, no doubt, the Kaiser has bowed the knee to his Satanic majesty. When he speaks of ''Me und Gott," deceived in his own heart, he means "Me and Odin." "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." Matt. 24:7,8. CHAPTER VI. The Horrors of the War. The close of each dispensation has been signally marked by the judgments of God upon the wicked. The Scriptures clearly teach that the same will be true of the closing years of the present dispensation. God is merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, but He will not always chide, neither will He keep His anger for- ever. The nations have grievously sinned, and the time of God's judgments are upon us. Not Germany alone is guilty before God. The Sabbath desecration, the drunkenness, the unbelief, the blasphemy of the world are appalling. The vast multitudes of our population act as if there were no God ; as if we had no revelation from Him, no laws to keep, no judgments to fear. Take the sin of impurity alone, which (49) 50 The Woyid War in Prophecy. is the prolific mother of all vice and degra- dation. In our allied nations in this great war v/e have so many base women, seeking the money, the vigor and health of our soldiers, that the government, struggling against the power of the Central empires, fear the lewd women of our own nations more than they do the armies of Germany. These are appalling statements, but they are sadly true. All the world has sinned, and all the world must suffer; but Germany is the ambitious aggressor in this horrible war. She has set herself to overthrow civiliza- tion, to trample ruthlessly upon the liber- ties and rights of men. She has disre- garded the Holy Scriptures, and trained her guns against the very throne of God and righteousness. The devastation and ruin she has spread through the earth, is without parallel. It would be almost im- possible to exaggerate the sufferings in- flicted upon the Belgium people; the men The World Wai' in Prophecy. 51 who have been murdered, the little child- ren who have perished because of hunger and exposure, the women who have been outraged, the families who have been broken up and shipped about in trains from one place to another like cattle, sur- passes anything in all the records of hu- man history. This war, so long planned and prepared for by the ambitious Kaiser and his coad- jutors, in which they have trained, offi- cered, and armed the unspeakable and fiendish Turk, has led to the merciless slaughter of eight hundred thousand un- armed and helpless Armenian Christians. The thought staggers the mind. It is dif- ficult to grasp the proportions of so hor- rible a tragedy. The Kaiser has done all in his power to inaugurate a religious war, turning the hordes of Mohammedans loose in merciless rapine to deluge the whole Christian world with fire and blood. Palestine, which has been struggling to 52 The World War in Prophecy. her feet through the Zionist movement for the past century, in which many beautiful and thrifty colonies of returned Jews were beginning to bloom with some substantial prospect of peace and hope, has been rav- aged and swept, as with a besom of de- struction. Thousands of desolated Jews have fled for refuge down into Egypt, and others have perished from starvation and under the merciless sword. The outrages perpetrated in that part of France, which has been invaded and held by the German army, cannot be de- scribed in human language. The suffering in Poland, especially among the Jews, is without parallel. Mr. Rohold, a highly educated and influential Jew, figures that not less than 500,000 Jews have perished in Poland and Russia as one of the fruits of this horrible war. It is a scene too dark and awful to dwell upon. It is the outcome and fruitage of the insane ambition of a human being un- The World War in Prophecy, 53 der the deception and domination of Satan. The Kaiser is not the final Man of Sin, spoken of in the Scriptures, who shall al- most entirely dominate and rule the world in the closing days of this dispensation, but he is the forerunner of this coming son of Satan. He illustrates the possibility of a human being swallowed up by ambition to rule, and inspired and led on by the spirit of all evil. There is no hope for peace among men until his power is broken, his followers, who rally about his standards, are disillusioned, and Ger- many, herself, as well as the rest of the world, delivered from the merciless grasp of militarism. No one human individual in all the world has brought such suffering and ruin to all the world, as the German Kaiser. In no one instance has he instructed his soldiers to spare a country or people ; to show mer- cy to the unarmed and defenseless ; to treat with consideration the unfortunate mother 54 The World War in Prophecy, and infant who fell under the power of their savage and brutal grasp. There is no language with which to de- scribe the suffering which the insane am- bitions of the German Kaiser and his war lords have inflicted upon the human race. There are no mathematics with which to calculate the number of soldiers slain, of citizens butchered in cold blood, of women outraged, of little children who have per- ished, of cities, villages, and homes laid in ashes, of churches destroyed, and the black crepe of sorrow hung upon the doorknob of hundreds and thousands of mourning homes. Language utterly fails to tell the fearful story of this world tragedy thrust upon the race by the proud and selfish am- bition of a few m.en who have yielded themselves up as the deluded victims of the devil, who are described so graphically in the following words, found in Revela- tion, 12th chapter and 12th verse : "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the The World War in Prophecy, 55 sea ! for the devil is come down unto you, having great v^rath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." In his hatred of God, of peace, and his furious desire to destroy the race and turn our earth into a smoldering heap of blood and ruin, Satan congratulates himself in having secured for his agent the Kaiser and his followers. "The noise of a multitude in the moun- tains, like as of a great people; a tumul- tuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: The Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the v^eapons of his indignation, to destroy the v^hole land. Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.'^ Isa. 13 :4, 5, 6. CHAPTER VII. Uncle Sam to the Rescue. No humane man can sit placidly on his front porch, reading his Bible, while a band of ruffians murders his neighbors across the street, outrages the women, maims the children, ransacks and burns the property. No prudent man could re- main inactive under such circumstances, when he has positive proof that spies con- nected with this band of ruffians have al- ready carefully inspected his premises, and marked his own home for the next in the order of destruction. Germany had not only gone to war with a number of nations in Europe, but she had gone to war against the great funda- mental principles of human freedom. She had begun a crusade against the entire spirit of democratic principles, and all re- publican forms of government throughout (57) 58 The World War in Prophecy, the earth. Her scheme of conquest knew no boundary lines of nations, and spared no people among civilized men from her plan of rapine and murder, in her effort for world m.astery. Germany not only sank the Lusitania in violation of the laws which govern civil- ized people, but her entire diplomatic corps, while professing friendship, were acting spies and honeycombing the entire nation v/ith paid agents to prejudice and produce disunion and strife among our citizens ; at the same time her hired incen- diaries were setting the torch to our fac- tories, and sending up millions of dollars of valuable property in flames. Worse still, her diplomatic corps was busy seek- ing to arrange to bring a vast Japanese army into Mexico, and to turn the whole Mexican horde of murderous, half -civilized people loose upon our Western population, with the promise of ample reward in the gift of vast sections of our territory. The W07M War in Prophecy. 59 The ruthlessness with which Germany murdered our people, destroyed our prop- erty, and the hypocrisy with which she planned to thrust a cruel war upon us, with a full purpose of wresting from us vast regions of territory, is a species of diabol- ical hypocrisy unsurpassed in the diplo- matic history of nations. The patience and forbearance of the American nation, under the most powerful provocation, has never been equaled in all the conflicts of history. Hateful as war is, as much of suffering and sorrow as it involves, there was absolutely nothing left to the American people but to declare war against Germany. Germany had already, and had for some time, been at war against the United States. Not only had she taken many lives and destroyed millions of dol- lars worth of property, but was doing her utmost to turn against us a neighboring nation, and was ready to arm, equip, and officer the Mexican people to cut the 60 The World War in Prophecy. throats of unarmed men, and outrage the women of the West, as the German army had done the women of Belgium and France. The whole matter reduced itself to the simple proposition: Would the American people join the allied nations of Europe to fight against the Central powers, or would she sit supinely by while the Cen- tral powers crushed the civilization of Eu- rope; meanwhile destroying our ammuni- tion factories, sinking our ships, and her diplomatic corps sowing broadcast dissen- sion and strife among our people, and in the end, our nation having to fight Ger- many alone, and unprepared, without the sympathy or assistance of any one. There was but one thing left, and that was to meet Germany on her own ground, and fight for our existence. If a nation ever went to war on an honorable basis, and in a righteous cause, in this instance, it was our nation. Our brave soldier boys The World War in Prophecy. 61 are the advocates and evangels of human liberty. They are fighting for the rights of all men,^ the protection of the hearth- stones of the homes of all the world. They are giving up their lives that women and children may be saved from the horrible brutality of educated and scientific sav- ages. Whatever the sacrifice may be, the prize is worth the price. We cannot afford to see the wheels of progress turned back- ward, and the liberties and the hopes of men trampled ruthlessly beneath the feet of a merciless and conscienceless foe. This is humanity's war. Every American who loves his native land, his flag, his Bible, and his church, his grey-headed father, saintly mother, pure sister, sweetheart, and little children, has a part and parcel in this splendid sacrifice. Every one who can carry a gun to the battle front, swing a sledge at the forge, hold a plow handle, dig a trench, butcher a beef, drive a nail 62 The World War in Prophecy. or push a saw, offer a prayer or shed a tear, may bear a part in this noble strug- gle of men who love God and the human race, to free itself from a cruel and heart- less militarism which knows no reason, and respects no rights. If there ever was a time when all polit- ical ambitions and prejudices should be forgotten, v/hen class distinction should be obliterated, when denominational prej- udice and bitterness should sink out of sight, when rich and poor, capitalists and labor, should all unite in the bond of sacred brotherhood, stand up and stand together, heart to heart, and shoulder to shoulder, for a great good cause, that time is now. The spirit that should characterize a na- tion is well expressed by Macauley in his *'Lays of Ancient Rome:" "Then none was for a party: Then all was for the State ; Then the great man helped the poor. And the poor man loved the great." The World War in Prophecy. 63 In spite of the enemies who have striven to sow dissension and strife among us, a few cowardly and selfish politicians who have feared the voting power, disloyal men who enjoy the protection of our flag, and the benefits of our civilization, and love a foreign country ; despite certain small bit- ter-hearted newspapers and magazine pub- lishers, who hate our President because they cannot dictate his appointments and policies, our nation has risen nobly to the heroic task before her. The farmer boy has left his plow in the furrow; the university student has laid down his scientific apparatus; the young banker has quitted his desk; the lawyer has left his briefs ; the millionaire has for- saken his golf links and polo grounds ; the fisherman has thrown down his tackle; many an idler has caught the spirit of the movement, and hardened hoodlums have risen to manhood, and come out of the slums to take their places in the ranks in 64 The World War in Prophecy. the glorious army of freedom. Million- aires have emptied their coffers, and homes of scanty means have brought forth their little savings to lay with glad hearts and trembling hands, their willing sacrifice upon the national altar. A whole army of women have given themselves nobly to the service of man- kind. They are not only trained for nurses, but they are ready to take their places in the garden, the office, the facto- ries, and anywhere, where a tender heart and a strong hand is needed. Scores of the wealthiest women of this nation have forsaken their palaces and their pleasures, and have gone into those regions most ruined and ransacked by the war, to give of their means and to succor the suffering. The response of the American people to the call of the Red Cross, with millions for Y. M. C. A. work, and the supply of the government, not only with means to pros- ecute the war, but to assist the allied na- The World War in Prophecy. 65 tions, and to reach out a great hand of charity to the suffering multitudes, has been a marvel and delight, and is worthy of a great free people who have imbedded deep in their natures the principles of that honored American statesman, who, in a former crisis of our history, exclaimed, "Give me liberty, or give me death !'' Out of this sowing of wealth and heroic lives, human blood and tears, what shall the harvest be! We can but hope and pray that the Huns will be overthrown; we believe that victory will at last perch upon the banners of freedom. That, for at least a short period, peace may come back to our troubled world; that, out of the wreck and ruin of the war, the people may erect their homes and gather the fragments of broken families about their heartstone in prayer. But the German Kaiser and his war-mad slaves have in- flicted a wound upon the human race which can never be healed; have committed a 66 The World War in Prophecy. crime against mankind deep as the pits of doom, high as the dome of heaven, broad as the utmost confines of earth, and last- ing as eternity. *'They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.*' Jer. 6:14. "For when they shall say Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them." 1 Thess. 5:3. CHAPTER VIII. The Pacifists. The pacifist is the man who pleads for peace at any price. The burning of cities, the murdering of eight hundred thousand Armenian Christians, the ravishing of untold multitudes of women, the maiming and starving of children, does not disturb his equanimity. He can stand with an idiotic smile upon his countenance, while the victims of the Lusitania reach their helpless hands in vain for help from the ocean, and all Germany laughs at their agony. He says, 'Teace, peace," while di- plomatic representatives of a foreign en- emy sow the seed of disintegration and internal strife, apply the torch to our fac- tories, and offer Texas, New Mexico and Arizona as a tempting bait to a neighbor nation to make war on us. All Christian men must be opposed to (69) 70 The World War in Prophdcy, war; and yet, intelligent Christian men must, some time, fight for the great under- lying principles of righteousness, without which, Christian civilization would be im- possible. The man who, from the stand- point of Christianity, objects to war, must have the sympathy and respect of his fel- lows, but he must not ignore the fact that we have wars thrust upon us, that the sa- cred shrines of Christianity are being de^ stroyed, and the very foundations upon which we build every hope of human hap- piness here and hereafter, are being broken up, that the Bible itself is being attacked, the Deity of Jesus Christ denied, and the guns of the Huns trained upon the foundations of all religious truth. The maudlin, fanatical pacifist reminds one of a strapping farmer, sitting upon the pasture fence, while a frightened woman is chased by a maddened bull, and instead of going to her help with a Win- chester or pitchfork, calling to her to pac- ^ The World War in Prophecy. 71 ify the animal by rubbing his nose with a bunch of lilac blossoms. He is the kind of man that would fall on his knees and beg the policeman not shoot the poor mad-dog, but teach the little children to tame the docile, sweet creature by patting him on the head, and feeding him with chicken sandwiches. These similes are not exaggerated. There would be just as much solid and log- ical reason in the methods of the pacifists with the German war lords, as the pro- posed treatment of furious bulls and mad- dogs. However tenderhearted and hu- mane you may be, you have got for the sake of society, to take pitchforks to the bulls, and shot-guns to mad-dogs. Most of the pacifists of this country who claim to be opposed to war, are hypocrites and liars. They do not believe in war, and in the German method of war. They wanted to escape military service in Ger- many and enjoy the privileges of this free 72 The World War in Prophecy, and democratic country, and now they want Uncle Sam to stand quietly and hold up his hands while they hold the U-boat, the torch, and the mob of Mexico at his head, pick his pockets of his liberties, and sell his States to foreign invaders. We have no enemies half so dangerous, and who hate us with so deep and bitter a hatred, as those political demagogues, newspaper copperheads, and disguised spies, who would rejoice to see our trans- ports go down at sea, and our armies cut to pieces on the French frontier. They are busy seeking to bind the hands of the administration at Washington ; to prevent our brave men from enlisting to defend the honor of the flag. They would sink the ships that carry food to the suffering women and children in Belgium. They would deposit explosives in great passen- ger vessels and send them down in mid- ocean with all on board, without any com- punction of conscience. They endorse and The World War in Prophecy. 73 gloat over the brutality and outrages of the German Kaiser. Like the unfortunate Jews who cried out on the sad hill of Calvary, ''His blood be on us and on our children," they are willing and glad to share their part of responsibility for this horrible crime of the ages. While the Vv^hole world longs for peace, and fights on with a hope that this may, at least, be the last war for a generation, German militarism is busy learning les- sons from the present war, and planning preparations for the next. We clip the following from the daily press : '*An insight into the war-sodden minds of Prussian militarists is given by a book just published in Germany called 'Deduc- tions From the World War,' a copy of which was received here today from Ber- lin. "It is written by Lieut. Gen. Baron Von Freytag-Loringhoven, who was quarter- master general of the German army 74 The World War in Prophecy. when Gen. Von Falkenayn was chief of the German general staff. Gen. Von Freytag is now stationed in Berlin as deputy chief of the general staff. His book breathes blood-and-thunder prepar- edness. "After arguing that the German army must be expanded after the present con- flict is over, Von Freytag continues: "We shall have to continue to pursue this road in the future quite apart from the necessary increase in garrison artillery and technical troops. Moreover, when the number of those who have fought in the great war has fallen away, we shall have to aim at subjecting at least to a cur- sory training the men of military age who are at first rejected but who, in the course of war, have turned out to be fit for ser- vice, so that when war breaks out they may form a generous source of reserves. "Only so can we arrive at a real people's The World War in Prophecy, 75 army, in which every one has gone through the school of the standing army. "In the future, as in the past, the Ger- man people will have to seek firm cohesion in its glorious army and in its be-laurelled young fleet. Our business is to maintain the fundamental ideas of war as they lived in the German army up to 1914, to soak them in the experiences of the pres- ent war and to make the fullest technical use of them. But we must do all this without giving an entirely new direction to our thinking on strategy and tactics." The last chapter of the book is called ''Still Ready for War," and argues that Germany must be ready to plunge into fresh conflict after the present whirlwind of bloodshed and horror is over. Von Frey- tag expresses the opinion that as a result of Germany's position in Europe and in world politics, "German soldiers must re- ject all ideas of pacifism and internation- alism." 76 The World War in Prophecy, The book goes on to say, after the war is over the sports of the boys of Germany must be arranged and utilized so as to put into them the spirit and training that will fit them for military service. William Allen White, a well known and perfectly reliable correspondent, now with the armies on the front, tells of several in- stances where German officers, after being captured, and while being treated for their wounds, have tried to assassinate the sur- geons of the Allies who were ministering to them. Their purpose was to thin out the doctors so the wounded in the hospitals of the Allies would not have proper atten- tion. It is a well known fact that, for some time, the German airships have been seek- ing out, and dropping shells upon hospitals, murdering the wounded and their nurses, trying to so disorganize and break up the Red Cross work that the wounded would die for lack of attention. The World War in Prophecy, 77 These are the wild human bulls and mad-dogs with whom the pacifists would make peace, and grant opportunity to make larger preparation for world slaugh- ter on a more fearful and shocking scale. The promoters of peace under present con- ditions are the advocates of another, and if possible, a more fearful war. There can be no hope for any lasting peace until the spirit of militarism is entirely broken in Germany; and much as this is to be de- sired, the sad probabilities are that this deeply imbedded faith in war, as a means to national greatness, planted so deeply in the German mind, cannot be uprooted. However this war may end, the spirit of militarism will still live in Germany, and in the future as in the past, will secretly plan the destruction of civil liberties, and the conquest of the world. "And I will cut off the chariots from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and He shall speak peace unto the heathen: and His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the rivers even to the ends of the earth/' Zech. 9:10. CHAPTER IX. When the War is Over — What? World conditions at the present time present a sad and mixed problem for our contemplation. Out of this maelstrom of fire and blood we hope for peace, but those of us who read and believe the prophecies contained in the Holy Scriptures cannot hope for long, protracted peace, until the inauguration of a new dispensation. There is one thing of which we may be perfectly sure : the ravages of war will not regenerate the race. Going into this war sinners, we shall not come out saints. When the last gun has been fired in this cruel conflict, the world will still be left with many vexing problems, and the human heart will remain rebellious and wicked. Selfish interests will form its combinations of capital, and labor will defiantly demand its price. Socialism, much of it illogical (79) 80 The World War in Prophecy. and unreasoning, will have made tremen- dous strides. The rich will continue to lock the precious products of earth in cold storage, and the poor will go fainting and hungry. Perhaps, not so openly, but in secret places, inventive genius will concen- trate its stimulated powers for the discov- ery of destructive agencies, and behind closed doors, cabinets will plan measures for defensive and offensive war. It is not at all improbable but that the United States may come forth from this conflict with less of the true democracy, and far more of the spirit of militarism than she possessed when she armed her- self to go forth and fight in order to ''make the world safe for democracy." You may be sure that for many years the politics of this country will be domi- nated by the soldiers who fight in this war. Those of us who remember the Civil War recall the fact that at its close, both North and South, the people were represented in The World War in Prophecy. 81 legislative and congressional halls by the old soldiers. It was almost a waste of time for the man who remained at home to become a candidate against a man who could wave an empty sleeve, and tell of heroic deeds on battlefield. The ex-soldier got the vote. In this particular, history will repeat itself; and for many decades to come the policies of this nation will be directed by the brave men who have led their charging hosts over the top along the Western front in France. We have seen in a former chapter, that German military leaders are already plan- ning for the intensive training of the rising generation of German youth for military service. The rest of the world will argue, whatever the conditions of the treatise of peace may be, that if one great representative nation prepares itself for war, the other nations will be compelled to do the same ; and the strong probabili- ties are that in spite of the fearful lesson 82 The World War in Prophecy. of waste of property and loss of life in the present carnage, that all the great powers now at war will, after peace is declared, inaugurate a system of universal service; and it is quite probable that this great democratic country will be dotted over with vast army camps, and a heavy burden of taxes laid upon the people, to teach the millions of youths the use of arms. Those statesmen who are telling us that this is the world^s last great war, and that we shall have universal peace among men, are entirely out of harmony with the teachings of the prophetical books of the Holy Scriptures, the words of Christ, and the writings of the apostles. We regret to write down here what our fellow-men will regard as a pessimistic view of the future ; but we believe the Bi- ble, and are compelled to be true to the great facts plainly foretold in its inspired pages. We are hoping for, at least, a short period of peace, following the close The World War in Prophecy. 83 of this world war, for a time of great evan- gelistic and missionary movement. It is to be hoped that the chastened world will give the true ministers of grace an oppor- tunity for the rapid spread of the Gospel : and that during the breathing spell, while deceived and selfish world-leaders prepare for the last tremendous struggle before the coming of Christ and His Kingdom, the Church will arouse herself to the long neg- lected task of preaching the Gospel in all nations, and to every creature. If the Kaiser could have realized his dreams, if he could have crushed France within a few weeks after the opening of hostilities, if he could have wheeled upon Russia, broken and conquered her, if he could then have brought England to her knees, thrown his armies into Canada, and marched upon the United States, all un- prepared to protect themselves, our great Eastern cities, with their factories of arms and ammunition could have been easily 84 The World War in Prophecy, captured, Mexico would have been aroused against us, and Uncle Sam would have had to accept the Kaiser's terms of peace. With the immense indemnities he would have exacted, and the combined fleets of the conquered countries under his com- mand, the Oriental people would have been helpless, and the German Kaiser would have easily been a world victor. But he is bound to fail; his dream can never be realized. History is in the ''toe age" of Nebuchadnezzar's great image. The time of world empire has passed forever, until Christ shall come to reign. True, Satan's last effort in this direction will meet a large degree of success during that short period of domination of the Man of Sin, through whom, for a little while, he will more nearly approximate his plan of world dominion, than he has been able to do through the agency of Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, or the bloody Kaiser. The hand of prophecy on the dial plate The World War in Prophecy, 85 of the ages points to perilous times. We are approaching the close of the dispensa- tion, and it will be marked by the outpour- ing of the vials of wrath upon a wicked and rebellious race which has trampled upon the commandments of God, plainly written in His Word, and rejected His mercies graciously offered upon the Cross. This is God's world ; He created it. He owns it. He intends to rule it. He has absolute right on this globe, and He does not intend that it shall constantly be the arena of strife; that selfishness and sin shall butcher and starve and destroy the creatures made in His image, and re- deemed by the sacrifice of His Son. He intends to inaugurate a new dispensation ; to set up His Kingdom among men ; to put the world under the control of the Prince of Peace ; to cast out the devil who shall de- ceive the nations no more, and happy men, in brotherly love, will no longer sweat in the furnaces of fire, manufacturing the 86 The World War in Prophecy. implements of war, but with songs of glad- ness they will beat their swords into plow- shares, and bend their bayonets into prun- inghooks. *'And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed : and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these king- doms, and it shall stand forever." Dan. 2:44. "And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gen- tiles be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming upon the earth : for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads ; for your redemption draweth nigh." Luke 21 :24, 25, 26, 27, 28. CHAPTER X. $^ The Coming Kingdom. When Christ was in the world He taught all His disciples to pray, "Thy Kingdom come ; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This united prayer of all the members of His true Church through the centuries, unconsciously of course, by many of His people, has been, and is, for the Coming of Christ, the casting out of Satan, and the setting up of the Kingdom of God on earth, in which men shall live and walk in beautiful harmony with His will. A golden age in which the world shall be free from war, from the liquor traffic, from white slavery, from pestilence and famine; when the seasons shall be regu- lated into perfect harmony, the earth shall bring forth in abundance, and the desert shall blossom like the rose. (89) 90 The World War in Prophecy, It is a common remark of those who do not understand the Divine program, that the Millennium, because of the conditions of war and strife, seems to be a long way off. Such people have the false and un- scriptural notion that the Millennium will be gradually ushered in by the wisdom of wise and generous world rulers; by treaties of cabinets, the acts of congress ; by social service for the uplift of society ; by the building of schoolhouses, parks, and playgrounds; by scientific sewerage sys- tem, and the introduction of the laws of hygiene into the lives of the people; by the passage of resolutions of religious con- ferences and convocations; by the sat- urating of the entire social life of the world with the spirit of the Gospel. This may be a fascinating dream, and pleasing program, gotten up by men, but it is entirely out of harmony with the Scriptures. No nation has ever attained a more advanced position in education, and The World War in Prophecy. 91 the development of all the branches of modern science than Germany, but the "kultur" of her mind has not sanctified her heart. Pride and ambition go hand in hand with human progress in the arts and sciences. Men are puffed up with their attainments of Vv^ealth and what they call knowledge, and drift away from the teach- ings and spirit of the meek and lowly Christ. The wisdom of this world will never in- augurate a universal reign of peace and happiness. The Apostle Paul tells us that, ''In the last days perilious times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blas- phemers, disobedient to parents, unthank- ful, unholy, without natural aifection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God ; having a form of godliness but denying the power 92 The World War in Prophecy, thereof." These are to be the conditions of the closing days of this dispensation. Every word of this prophecy of the in- spired Apostle is fulfilled before our eyes in a marked and striking degree. The teaching of Paul is in perfect har- mony, and corroborated by our Lord Jesus Christ's description of last-day conditions. Speaking of the end of the age, He says, *'And upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and looking after those things which are coming on the earth." These teach- ings describe with absolute accuracy, pres- ent-day conditions. Jesus does not tell us that such conditions indicate that the Mil- lennium is a long way off, but he says, "When you see these things come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." It is in the very midst of these things, while the earth is full of confusion The World War in Prophecy. 93 and war, distress and perplexity, that Christ says, "Then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." As might be supposed, we have in the Scriptures a remarkable combination of prophecies concentrated about the tremen- dous events connected with the great change that shall come to our planet, with the close of a dispensation, the overthrow and casting out of the devil, the breaking up of the kingdoms of this world, and the inauguration of the Kingdom of God on the earth. The breaking up of world king- doms has begun in a remarkable degree. The king of Belgium has been driven from his throne. Peter of Servia, has been driven from his country. The Czar of Russia is a prisoner in Siberia. King AI- fonzo is trembling on the throne in Spain. The spirit of social democracy threatens the existence of the Hohenzolleren family in Germany. The King of Greece has fled 94 The World War in Prophecy. from his capital. Confusion reigns throughout the earth. The stone cut out without hands is smiting the image of world power upon its feet, and it will break and grind to powder rapidly during the coming year. The ''times of the Gentiles" are almost ended. There is reason to believe that the British army will still drive "the unspeak- able Turk" from Palestine, and the He- brew people will come flocking back to Zion like doves to their windows. Events are moving at the double quick. Time no longer drags ; it gallops. Those who watch prophecies and the daily papers, will be impressed with the remarkable fulfillment of the predictions of God's inspired seers. It is high time that the Church, the Bride of the Lamb, made herself ready to be caught away from the "great tribula- tion" which shall break directly with a storm equal in its fury to Noah's flood, and the merciless horrors with which the Ro- The World War in Prophecy, 95 man legions besieged and burned the Holy City. Let those who love the Lord see to it that their garments are made white through the power of His cleansing blood, their vessels are full of oil, and their lamps kept trimmed and burning. Books by ReVo E C. Morrison, D. D. World Tour of Evangelism An intensely and helpful missionary book writ- ten by Brother Morrison, on his Evangelistic Tour of the World. It is highly commended and Is illus'trated ; 32 full-page pictures, neatly bound in cloth, stamped in gold. Price $1.00 postpaid. Life Sketches and Sermons A very interesting story of the early life, con- version and sanctiflcation of Bro. Morrison, and a number of splendid sermons by him. The book has been marvelousiv used in bringing peo- ple into the experience. Clotli, stamped on side and back in white foil. Price 50c. The Two Lawyers The truth put in story form and you will And this book intensely interesting at the same time the teaching of Holiness brought out very force- fully and unanswerable. Buy it; enjoy it yourself, and pass it along to some unbeliever. Cloth binding, 50c; paper binding 25c. Baptism With the Holy Ghost This is a very clear and concise statement of the subject and many persons have used quanti- ties of them to good advantage. Price 10, The Second Coming A subject that needs more prominence. You will be pleased with Brother Morrison's treat- ment of it. Price 10c. The Pearl of Greatest Price A sermon on the ISth chapter of First Corin- thians. Price 10c. Order of Pentecostal Pisblishing Company, Louisville, Ky. Deacidified using the Bookkeeper pi Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxic Treatment Date: uty ^, PreservationTechnolo A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESER' 111 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 1 606 (724)779-2111