MOOD OF VICTORY
!-THEiSI]PREME DESIRE TO BANISH , WAR ■■"' '- IV' ■'■' : . '_ '__ [■:'■■ ■';:.; . ! STIRRING SERMON BY DR. GIBB.
i, ' '•■ ■•.-•■ -.-■ ■ .'■-.■ j '.;■ Speaking on the words' "Thine is the' I : Victory/- , on Sunday evening in' St. John's [■'/ Church, Dr. Gibb-deait.'with the mood I. of victory. They were at (ho beginning of I.- the.-end, he said. The Kaiser's tkrono !','was: tottering to its fall. Germany had K ventured all for the realisation of her arI I'Ogant dream of world power, and it i. would presently appear, if indeed it was j>.' not already apparent, ;that she had lost j Villi. The .doom of her militdrism and her I . uai\ lords was writ, and t,ho world to- '.'.. (lay : was rejoicingMn its'dellverance from '■•'one of the worst and most fatal .tyratuj. • iiiesvthat'had'ever sought to enslave the' j • 'bodies and tho souls of men, What should ;'. be -their mood to-day—the mood o£. vic- ■'■' lory? Surely, first of all it should be one ;" of devout thanksgiving to Almighty God r. for.-the marvellous deliverance He had :, vouchsafed them. By human means nsi:.~ surally, but if tho Lord had not been on i. their- side, whereto would iven the valour ,-';'■■ ;'<if theii* soldiers and tho steadfast devof. (ion of their sailors have advantaged | j 'Ihem? Ono faced tho present situation I ; with a eense of wonder, as well as grati-1 j;. tude. How many months was it to last I j March? But in that brief period.defeat) :"' had'.'been changed into triumph, and prei'; fcenUy they would be able to say'to the f.■''■ Gorman Emperor what Isaiah represents j tho-.'peoples of the earth as saying to tho .'King of .Babylon after liis downfall; [/"How art thou fallen from Heaven, 0 I 'Lucifer; how'art thou cut down to the ~".' ground thou that didst weaken, the naj..'■- ■ .t'ione." 11l would it ibe with.them if they i - ,did not see the hand of God in the pre-. J sent posture of affairs. The London j. /'Times" had said in a. iccent leading f". article: "It is time, for all who love their [ .: nation to draw upon the ancient and en- '••.;(. during commonplaces of 'eligion; they j; ' liiust dig again the old.wells. Only the i fear, of God can give to a nation tho fuliV_.h'lnient of its powers; without it life after [-" life is waited, .witK its gifts spilled liko t, .'water.'' These-were words of wisdom. Might the people of the wholo Empiro ■ riay vthem to heart. ■;.-.:,■ There was another pha.se of'the right '- - mood ibf.'T'ictory to which attention '.: should be directed.. It was this: Their, f : . supreme desire should be for such a set- ' '.tlement of the affairs of the nations as j. (should issue, not only in peace, but in a '"'■'• -peace never again to bo broken. There '}■:'_ was a danger that in the very tumult 1.'.-, of their gladriess they might forget that ;■ • ihe'war would have been fojight in vain i /if it: did not mean the end of all'ware. ! To ; thevthoughtless man the'great thing, , tho.only thing to be considered, would . be' 1 ihe humiliation of Germany,.- the- ,. exacting -of indemnities, the wresting '.-away of cololfies and.. .-. tile prep.ara(....lion for another Armageddon! Already f : n blatant voice had been uplifted in tho j Australian Parliament demanding, he |, knew not how many millions of "indemi nity. Ndw Zealand probably.would not !' lag-behind. Out upon tho wretched >, folly of it all! ' ' .. j,'. , -Let ihem not misunderstand liim.Ger;;,maiiy:' .hail/ already'paid a great price, !. - mid she would have- a great price' to pay ;:61i11.'.,:: The .Kaiser and the Potsdam h.gang, the men who .might, by competent |v tribunal,"be proved to have been'respqn-, >•'. sitilo for the . unspeakable iniquities ■;', which had marked Germany's,conduct of [' : the war would have to pay for these [.things.. Justice, eternal justice, demaiidi,(•' vA that. And -justice done upon these \ criminals, justice done upon German and ; Turkish rulers alike), would not hinder i- ■ but nelp, the accomplishment' of a true i ■ peace.' 'But: the'',dominant desire of i' ■ every Christian heart; the absorbing,pas- ! eio'n ,of every thoughtful' mind, must ; : .surely be noi first the exactmentof pen- » ' alties, but rather only, the exactment of [.. % ■ eiicb penalties as should make for the' L~ .establishment of a warless world. . It /had been often pointed out that -while ; Germany was immediately responsible for !' the outbreak of the war, in the general K conditions of human socieiy and of. inter- '£'■ national . relationship, .the .conditions t y ...which had made war-possibfp,. all-na- '■/ tions had a shave. Arid Temoval of ~ .these conditions must be , their primary ! .. concern now.'.. What had they been j .fighting for but-this? What had' hunl , tlreds of thousands of - British men )i bled 'and died ' for '.but this? Of j.' : one thing ho thought they . might f ■ be sure—the democracies ;of Europe j would not again go to war, and if •; t : the conditions of peace were not arrang- \ ed with a supreme concern to the end- ■■■: me -of wars, they might find a greater I' , gulf than-over between .what were ternij- ed the classes and - the masses, and the ;.. .strife.of .nations might be followed by i..'• the-"mirfe dreapfiil strife of class with t' classi'of brother" with brother. ' . : They, did well'..to rejoice in the valour ; ■ of-their armies. They did well to beat i. -their drums, and let the brazen throats '-.'. of their trumpets ixnd the clanging of. I, their-bells express their appreciation of !,' ■'■the. : :,BeTTiceß' rendered by the strong right hands arid valiant souls' of their j 6oldier^--and sailors. But, alas, if the ;■ : deepe/ note were lacking! Alas,, if God j .were forgotten! Alas, , if in the fervour i;- of their- gladness they permitted nnyj>, thing to obscure their high rcsponsibilj"'. ity to. insist only'/ upon such conditions j. •■ from the enemy, upon gucli changes in I the political constitution and economic j arrangements of all the nations as should ! banish irar forever from the earth as a L- thing, accursed-of God and man. If we ■■■;: did:not secure this, our soldiers would i'-. have' died'"in vajn. "■•"'. j j / But this .would be secured. And each !.. of, them.had his share-of responsibility t;.' in that' .'public '■■ opinion before I which oven'-the'strongest wills. ;■ among i'. their leaders had to bow. Never in the : J\, history of the world had there been a j . more* momentous council than that now ;; sitting in Versailles. Happily, many of ■ •"'■'.-them were men of God. But did they •;: not need the prayers of the Church and I of all Christian people? -As through- '. .out the conflict we cried aloud to Him i-'V. who in His own time and way had ans- ' wered our requests, now let us pray that 1 tho statesmen of the Empire and of the ' . .Allied nations might be inspired by the ]/ spirit'of all wisdom and grace, so that i. their deliberations and doings should ■. make for "the ending of war, for fho es- ! tablishment of righteousness and peace ■ on earth, for the kingdom of God and the !'"' coming of the Christ' who is to be.
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Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 39, 9 November 1918, Page 12
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1,148MOOD OF VICTORY Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 39, 9 November 1918, Page 12
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