JULY 15, 1916 



A. I. Root 



OUR HOMES 



Editor 



Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the 

 sin of the world. — John 1:29. 



He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as 

 a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth 

 not his mouth. — Isaiah 53 :7. 



Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my 

 Father, and he shall presently give me more than 

 twelve legions of angels? — Matt. 26:53. 



The first of our texts has been one of my 

 favorite ones ever since I began reading 

 God's holy word understandingiy. Who 

 was it that called Jesus the Lamb of God? 

 It was poor John who, later on, was perse- 

 cuted and put to death " for righteousness' 

 sake." The Lamb of God ! what an expres- 

 sion ! When God saw fit to send a messen- 

 ger to this wicked world, Avhat sort of mes- 

 senger would humanity naturally suppose 

 he would send ? John terms him the "Lamb 

 of God." A little lamb is about the meekest 

 and most inoffensive of all God's creation. 

 It has been the emblem of innocence ever 

 since the world began. The lamb does not 

 fight. It does not endanger anybody nor 

 anything. When we speak of a disposition 

 that is lam.blike it is paying about as high 

 a compliment as we can pay to a human 

 being. .lesns was ushered into the world 

 with this lamblike disposition — the disposi- 

 tion to be unselfish and to do good, in 

 contrast to average humanity. 



Just now it seems that thruout the whole 

 wide world there is a division of sentiment. 

 We have had it here on the pages of Glean- 

 ings. Quite a number of writers all the 

 way from Sheldon (the author of In His 

 Steps) down to others not so well known 

 have counseled "non-resistance;" and I 

 grant you there seems to be a tendency to 

 go to extremes either way. 



tfust as T write, on the third day of July, 

 there is a strong prospect of a war with 

 Mexico ; and the question is constantly com- 

 ing up, "What would Jesus do?" A few 

 weeks ago I copied a tract entitled " War 

 on Christian Principles," and it brought 

 forth much comm,ent. We are just about 

 printing 2000 more for the good lady who 

 sent a sample — see page 460, June 1. Sup- 

 pose we study the character of Jesus a little 

 in order to decide better what he would do. 

 A nepliew of mine away out in Arizona 

 takes me to task and quotes scripture to 

 show that I should not be undecided. He 

 says, " Not by might nor by power, but by 

 my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." He 

 quotes again, " Seek ye first the kingdom 

 of God, and his I'ighteousness, and all these 

 things shall be added unto you." Just once, 

 if I am correct, Jesus not only reproved 



and rebuked but drove out wicked men. In 

 tliis one instance the lamblike demeanor 

 soeras to have been changed to one of au- 

 thority. He overturned the tables of the 

 money changers, and said, " Take these 

 things hence." He then added, " Make not 

 my Father's house a house of merchandise. 

 My house shall be called the house of pray- 

 er; but ye have made it a den of thieves." 

 Strangely enough, those wicked men hustled 

 out with their trade and traffic when he 

 showed he could present them something 

 besides a lamblike demeanor. Now, there 

 is one other instance that is not exactly 

 parallel, but I often think of it. It illus- 

 trates that, beneath that lamblike exterior, 

 there was a hidden power that not only 

 defied ivicked humanity, but spoke peace 

 even to the winds and waves. No wonder 

 that his followers Avere awed and astonished 

 as they said, " What manner of man is this 

 that even the unnds and the sea obey him?" 



The question continually comes up, and 

 is sent in to me, " Would Jesus, if he were 

 here, indorse enforcement of law?" I think 

 he would. Did he not. say "I came not to 

 bring peace but a .sword"? And at another 

 time he said, " I came not to destroy the 

 law, but to fulfill." A. F. Foster said on 

 ]iage 377, May 1, that insane people would 

 have to be taken care of; and I think abun- 

 dant experience has shown that policemen, 

 magistrates, etc., are needed in every part of 

 the Avorld. In some towns where there are 

 no saloons one policeman might take charge 

 of quite a large number of people; but for 

 all that, it seems that one or more police are 

 still needed. In our lynchings where mob 

 rule takes the place of law, we have not only 

 one crazy man, but it seems crowds get to- 

 gether Avhere it would seem that a hundred 

 or even more have gone insane and have to 

 be restrained. What is our nation coming 

 to if a crazy mob, and often a drunken mob, 

 takes laAv into its oAvn hands? In such 

 cases it seems to me that e\'en the Lamb of 

 God which taketh aAvay the sin of the Avorld 

 Avould authorize an armed force to insist on 

 strict obedience to the laAvs of the land and 

 on giving eA'ery accused person a chance 

 for a fair trial. I saw a statement recently 

 that quite a number Avho had lost their lives 

 by lyncliing Avere proved afterAvard to liave 

 been entirely innocent; and this came about 

 because the poor victim had no chance to ex- 

 jilain things and defend himself. May God 

 Iielp us to do aAvay Avith lynching, not only 

 in the far South, but everyAvhei'e else. 



The last one of our texts makes reference 



