A Righteous War

“We do believe from the very bottom of our hearts that, so far as we ourselves are concerned, this is a righteous war. We do believe that God Himself has allowed that we should take our part in it, in the cause of justice and of right. We do believe that it will be partly through us that God will work His mighty purpose out, and that He will not cast away the instruments which He has used. Therefore, we have no justification whatever for giving way to gloomy thoughts as to what may happen IF England is beaten. If God has laid this war upon us, as we believe that He has, and if He is using us through it, as we believe that He is, then England CANNOT be beaten. She may be sorely tried, she may have much to suffer — and she deserves that for her neglect of God during all these years of prosperity, for her luxury, for her selfishness; but she cannot be beaten.
“We have no right to contrast our small army with the mighty hosts of Germany, and to say of the Expeditionary Force which we have just sent out, ‘What are they among so many?’ If God is going out with our army, as we believe He is, its success does not depend on them or on us; it depends on Him. God can save by many or by few; and victory does not necessarily go to the biggest battalions. It is not without significance that newspaper after newspaper, in all the prominence of its leading articles, has expressed its conviction that we are going out to battle now with God Himself behind us. Men of our race are chary, even on paper, of giving expression to their deepest feelings; but they are doing it now. And with one accord those who have their finger on the pulse of the national life are sounding that keynote, ‘If God be for us, who can be against us?’” —The Rev. Theodore-Wood, in a sermon preached at St. Mary Magdalene’s Church, Wandsworth Common.
These are good words and true. We must recognize God. We cannot beat down “the mailed fist” but by the “arm of the Lord.” We can best answer the brag and blasphemy of the German Emperor by a calm trust in God, who will deal with him for all his cruelties, and may be using us as a nation to carry out His purposes.