Much has been said of late as to the advisability of the nations putting into operation a plan whereby matters of international importance might, when in dispute, be adjusted by arbitration rather than by war. In some quarters it has even been alleged that such a plan will soon appear so feasible that, in all probability, the world is in the throes of "the last war." To be sure, those who thus speak have been named " optimists " by those of a contrary opinion, nevertheless they continue to make cheerful predictions.

On the other hand, many have recently begun to surmise that the present-day civilization, by its recent "reversion to brutality," has proved itself to be little more than a thin veneer. Of course those of this opinion are called "pessimists."

Now, Christians, in their true Christian character, are neither optimists nor pessimists. They hear what God has said in His word, and this rules their minds. It is therefore proposed to look into Scripture and see what God has said concerning a universal and lasting peace. In so doing, only one or two passages of Scripture will be cited on the points raised, as it would be impossible in a short paper to quote the many with which it is replete.

THE FACT

Isaiah says :"And He (the Lord)shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks :nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more " (chap. 2:4). Again, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:and the government shall be upon his shoulder :and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace " (chap. 9:6).At the birth of Jesus, the heavenly hosts are heard saying:" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14).Such texts intimate the fact of a universal and lasting peace, and call attention to the One who is to achieve such results, and whose advent into the world involves them.

DELAY

It may now be said :Since the fact is affirmed, and the Agent of its achievement announced, how is it that its accomplishment has been delayed so long since His appearance ? The answer is plain. When Christ presented Himself to mankind He was rejected. " He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto his own (Israel) and his own received Him not" (Jno. i:10, n). Mankind in general, no less than the Jews, knew not the day of their visitation, nor the things that belonged to their peace. But it may be asked:Is the situation not altered now ? Is it not true that these Western countries can be called Christian ? Let Scripture answer. Christ said (anticipating His rejection):"Now is the judgment of this world:now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. This He said, signifying what death He should die" (Jno. 12 :31-33). These words teach that the moral system called the world is judged, a fact that precludes the hope of its becoming Christian. Moreover, it is as rejected, and not as popular, that Christ is presented as the gathering Center for mankind. Consequently, it is said, not merely "the world knew Him not," and " they have not known the Father nor Me," but He says of His own:"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." And again, "The world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not" (Jno. 17:16; i Jno. 3 :i). The world did not know the Father nor the Son here upon earth, neither does it know "us," Christians.

This partly explains the Lord's words :"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth:I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's foes shall be they of his own household" (Matt. 10:34-36). Take an example of this. When Severus, a Roman emperor, in the third century, commanded. that suspected Christians should " offer sacrifice for the welfare of the emperor,"Perpetua, a young woman of twenty-two, was entreated by her father, who was a pagan, to comply with the edict. But, notwithstanding the tears of her aged father, and in spite of her affection for him, she firmly rejected his counsel and suffered a martyr's death. And although, in a later day, Christians entered politics, they did not make the world Christian. They indeed merely became corrupted themselves, and obliterated, as far as they could, the line of demarcation between Christianity and the world. Hence, even to-day, if any one will follow Christ, he will discover that the"sword," or enmity of the world against Christ and His followers has not ceased, but still divides between what is of Christ and what is of the world, which Christendom, so-called, really is.

It may now be asked :" Why are Christians left in the world, if not to make it Christian?" They are left in it to testify of Christ-rejected by the world, yet to preach forgiveness through His name to all who will receive Him:and those who believe the message become separated from the world-system and are united to Christ in heaven; they are members of His body on earth while waiting for His return.

We thus see that in this present time peace cannot be established on earth because Christ is rejected, and that His true people, those who have received Him, namely, His Church, instead of altering the situation, intensify this testimony in the measure that they maintain the cause of Christ, which emphasizes the breach between Christ and the world. Meanwhile, Christians await Christ Himself. He is their hope; as it is written:"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:and the dead in Christ shall rise first :then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (i Thess. 4 :16, 17).

WAR

After this rapture of the saints to heaven, and before our Lord's public manifestation, when He will appear with them to rule over the earth, two events of great significance will transpire. There will be war in heaven and war on earth. As to the former, it is said:"And there was war in heaven:Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not:neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world:he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (Rev. 12:7-12). Being limited to the earth in his sphere of operations, and that only for a short time, it is said:" Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath .but a short time " (Rev. 12 :12).

In the state of things that will ensue, Satan will have recourse to certain agents upon earth ready to carry out his measures. We will but refer the reader to Rev. 13, where he will find two of them mentioned. Speaking in a general way, lawlessness and not righteousness, violence and not peace, will ravage the earth at this time. Take for an example the following:"And when He (the Lamb) had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red:and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another:and there was given unto him a great sword" (Rev. 6:3, 4). Here is described a state so awful that any little peace remaining on earth is said to be removed. It is a phase of things that will develop after the rapture of the saints, and will become more pronounced in a diabolical way after Satan's expulsion from the heavens. It will culminate in a vast militaristic system, notably blasphemous and idolatrous, a system thoroughly opposed to the claims of the righteous Heir of all things, who is to set up His kingdom on earth, and this system shall be totally overthrown (Rev., chaps. 13 & 19).

PEACE

Then for a thousand years, says the word of God, Christ and His saints shall reign over the earth and Satan will be bound during that time (Rev. 20) a time when righteousness shall reign, and peace will prevail as a result.

(1) In psalm 94 :15, a time is described when "judgment shall return unto righteousness:and all the upright in heart shall follow it." Are judgment and righteousness allied on the thrones of the Gentile powers to-day? Alas, no! When Pilate gave judgment against Jesus, it was publicly demonstrated that righteousness had departed from judgment, but when Jesus comes again it will return to it. Thus in psalm 72 :2, Christ, in His Solomon-character, is seen judging His people with righteousness and His poor with judgment.

(2) "He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence:and precious shall their blood be in His sight" (Ps. 72 :13, 14). Today the poor and needy are not "spared," but are the subjects of oppression and domination of rulers; they suffer violence, and their blood is poured out like water ; but in that day they will realize the mercy of Christ's rule, for He will maintain their cause and shall account their blood "precious."

(3) Well might the Psalmist close this section of the book, saying:"Let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen, and Amen" (ver. 19). The first man had ultimately made his powers apparent in pride, self-glory and destruction, but the Second Man, who gave His life in atonement for man's sin, will make His healing grace apparent in the whole earth. He will come like showers after the mowing of the earth. He will make the earth again to rejoice after the first man has devastated it, and everything will acclaim His glory and declare that HE "has done it!"

" He'll bid the whole creation smile, And hush its groan." R. J. R.