THE JEW AND THE CHRISTIAN

As I was passing along one of the main thoroughfares of Brooklyn, I met a crowd of people at one of the corners gathered about a speaker who stood on a small platform. He was holding their attention as he unfolded the glowing prospects of man's future under the rule and sway of Socialism. As he dilated on its final triumph he closed his remarks thus:"Then will the millennium that the old prophet spoke about come to pass. There will be then no more crime, no more wars, for having changed man's environment the incentive for these evils will be gone, and being bound together by the common ties of brotherhood, man will thus live in peace and happiness."

I had learned enough of man's nature, in myself as well as others, to know that his troubles did not all arise from his "environments," and this man's speech sounded to me therefore like the speech of the charlatan who holds out to the gaping crowd a medicine that cures every 99:I had also learned enough about Christ to know that in Him, and Him alone, was the remedy which this orator was trying to find in Socialism. I pitied the poor people therefore who, hanging on his lips, were only doomed to bitter disappointment, even if Socialism should prevail and have full sway. Wretched Millennium! I exclaimed to myself, if what the "old prophet" announced is to be the outcome of Socialism.

But I believe what the "old prophet" said. I believe there is a Millennium coming, and coming soon too. Not, however, by means of the Socialists any more than by the Trusts, or by means of anything that issues out of man; for the first thing necessary to bring about the "old prophet's " Millennium is a radical change in the human heart. As "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights" so the Millennium, that blessed time of deliverance and peace for which the whole creation, groaning and travailing in pain day and night, is waiting, comes direct from God Himself. As He once sent His blessed Son from heaven to obtain an eternal redemption for us by His atoning death on the cross, so is He about to send Him back again, in power and glory now, to command the whole world into subjection to Him, and to execute judgment upon every soul who refuses obedience. Having "all power" He will produce that change in the hearts of men which will at once change their environments by enabling them to practice in truth the sermon which He had before made on the Mount, which will end all war and strife and oppression and crime. " I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them," He says. Blessed Millennium indeed that will be. The whole earth will rejoice and sing under the holy and peaceful sway, not of Socialism, but of the Son of Man, Son of God, King of kings, and Lord of lords. As thoughts of these things burned in my heart, the speaker invited questions from the crowd, and a man standing by me at once replied. He was well-dressed, of refined appearance, and his speech and general features plainly told he was a Jew. Said he:"Why don't you tell the people what the Old Testament teaches about God's law? How they should live and treat their fellow men? If they kept the law of God would they not do what is right ? And if men do what is right everybody is happy."

Upon this the orator indulged in a scathing tirade against the churches. Didn't they preach the law to the people, and yet didn’t they shelter among them the men who were the chief oppressors of the poor ? Who could believe that a man in a few years could gather up millions in his lap and not rob others of their dues ? And yet all these preachers of righteousness were the first to bend their knees to these oppressors of humanity.

The Jew felt the force of the charge and was silenced.

Here I felt the Christian's opportunity had come, and looking to the Lord for help my burning thoughts broke out in words. Addressing the speaker I said, "But all I have heard you say does not reach the root of the matter." , He looked at me rather puzzled for a moment, and then asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well," I replied, "you say that all that is needed to do away with existing evils is to change man's social condition. But you seem to ignore the fact that his social condition is but the fruit of his inward moral condition. Give a poor Socialist a big fortune without changing his inward moral condition and he will at once become another of the oppressors of men, as you have called the rich. The law of sin which is in the human heart rules him, and a change must be wrought there before the social condition can be changed. Can Socialism change the heart of man ?"

All eyes were now turned toward the speaker to see what he would answer to this plain question what remedy Socialism had for this plague that holds the universal human race in its merciless grip. But he had none. Neither would he listen to what gives the remedy. He only broke out into another tirade in which he sought to justify man and condemn God. He then brought the meeting to a close, and I was about to go on my way as the rest when a voice addressed me. It was the Jew who had asked the first question. He seemed excited and his eyes gleamed as he looked me in the face and said warmly, '' See here, sir, do I understand from what you say that we are all sinners alike ? I want to tell you I am not a sinner ! " And he stood back with a look of wounded pride and great dignity. "God gave us His beautiful and perfect law and it is only they who obey it that have the true religion."

"The law that was given you, my friend, is indeed excellent. It is absolutely perfect. It is holy. The man who keeps it is a perfect man, But will you tell me why you Jews have been driven away from your land and scattered to the four winds of heaven, and been for centuries a by-word and a hissing everywhere? Have you ever read the great prophecy of your prophet Moses in the 28th chapter of his book of Deuteronomy? Has it not been, and is it not now being fulfilled to the letter because of your disobedience to the Law ? My friend, if you Jews were not sinners, every one of you, you would be to-day in your own country, the land of Palestine. You would be honored by all nations instead of being despised. Your land would be flowing with milk and honey instead of being desolate. It is your disobedience to the law of God which has brought on your miseries, and when His Son came to change your hearts and make you obedient, and bring all manner of blessings upon you, you killed Him and are now suffering the consequences. Moreover, the climax of those consequences is yet to come, and then you will confess that you are indeed sinners. Then He will forgive you and bless you wonderfully. If you would confess now that you are a sinner He would bless you with even greater blessings than you can ever have on earth during the Millennium."

But, alas, all this which he could not deny but would not confess, only seemed to raise all the prejudices of his Jewish mind, and the sad truth was again brought to light, that Christ "is despised and rejected of men." So I left him, glad in heart, however, for the opportunity of witnessing to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

After all, thought I as I went on my way, there is little difference practically, between the Socialist and the Jew, the Philanthropist, the Progressive and the Reformer. All alike seek to ameliorate the evil conditions of mankind by some system and means of man's devising or power. Everything fails. Everything is bound to fail, because there is no power in any of them to change the nature of man. The only hope is in God who has given charge of the matter to His Son Jesus Christ.

Meanwhile what is to be done for mankind ? Until Christ appears in almighty power on the clouds of heaven to hush the groans and sighs of a suffering creation and to cut down all who oppose Him in this blessed work, what is to be done ?

The answer comes from Himself in a multitude of passages of Scripture and can, in measure, be summed up in these few words:"While I tarry with My Father in heaven and wait for His time to return to earth and take the kingdom to Myself and reign, preach the gospel of my grace to every creature under heaven. Tell them that I died for them all. That every one who repents of his sins and believes on Me is cleared of all his sins, a possessor of eternal life, a child and heir of God, and that his home will be in heaven, with Me and with My Father-a far more blessed place yet than those will have who will be in the Millennium. Tell them also to be patient like Me, to suffer wrong as I did, to render good for evil as I did, to use their talents and their means for the blessing of others, serving as I did and waiting for their reward till I give it to them. This alone is what will or can alleviate the social condition during My absence. It is they who are light in the world and the salt of earth. Blessed will the portion be of all who thus are My witnesses till I come again."

Lord Jesus, make me such.

W. W. B.