Days of Violence by Editor

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 21, 1903

Days of Violence

By Editor

Editorial

Days of Violence

THE description of the condition of the world just before it was destroyed by water in the days of Noah will serve as the description of the condition of the world just before it is finally destroyed by fire. “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” The same contempt for God and his law brings men to the same disregard of all restraint, and thus now, as then, the earth is “filled with violence.” Who can doubt it who observes the daily record of evil? Among all classes of people—the rich as well as the poor, the educated and the uneducated—there is revealed that same lack of self-restraint or self-government which shows plainly that the law of God is not written in the heart, and that Satan is carrying a large part of the human family captive at his will. When professed ministers of the gospel of peace incite the mob spirit among the people, and demand that lynching shall be legalized, what other result can be reasonably expected than that these outbreaks of violence shall become more and more frequent? At the present rate of progress it will not be long before all respect for the forms of law and order will be set aside, there will be no such thing as “due process of law,” and every man's hand will be against every other man. Thus the real nature of sin will be revealed before it is destroyed out of the earth, and the redeemed will be prepared to sing, “Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages. Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art “the holy.” We are in the perils of the last days. Only as we hide in God are we safe. O that souls would realize the danger and turn unto the Lord! O that those to whom has been committed the warning message would awake more fully to their responsibility, and bend every energy to the work of preparing a people to stand through the days of violence, and to be ready for the return of our Lord! Sudden destruction in this generation awaits those who do not make God their refuge.

Spiritual Enthusiasm

LUKEWARMNESS in spiritual things is a characteristic of the time. “Neither hot nor cold,” is the Laodicean state of the church. A wave of spiritual enthusiasm ought to sweep through the church. Spiritual enthusiasm is not fanaticism. It is not religious sentimentality. Spiritual enthusiasm means complete submission to the will of God. Spiritual enthusiasm means unreserved consecration to the service of God. Spiritual enthusiasm means unswerving devotion to right principle. Spiritual enthusiasm means the sacrifice of life together with all lesser things to the faithful performance of duty. All this was seen in the life of the apostle Paul, the spiritual enthusiast. “I hold not my life of any account as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” “Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death.” “I take pleasure in weakness, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake.” We are suffering to-day from spiritual languor. It seems difficult to arouse a genuine and lasting enthusiasm for the kingdom of God in the earth. The primary interest seems to be in the farm, or in the shop, or in some worldly enterprise which promises a good return for the investment. Men will grow enthusiastic over these things, and will heartily devote their energies to them, but their interest lags when the work of God is presented to them. Surely those who believe in the soon coming of the Saviour ought to be filled with spiritual enthusiasm. With glad anticipation they can look forward to the consummation of all their hopes at the return of their Lord. They know that what is done for the salvation of souls must be done quickly, for soon the end will come. “Let the churches awake before it is everlastingly too late. Let every member take up his individual work, and vindicate the name of the Lord by which he is called. Let sound faith and earnest piety take the place of slothfulness and unbelief.” Let there be more spiritual enthusiasm.

A Wily Foe

DECEIT is the devil’s stock in trade. “The serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness.” “The woman being deceived was in the transgression.” Satan is declared to be “the deceiver of the whole world.” It is by “the deceitfulness of sin” that we are hardened. And centuries of experience have increased our adversary’s power in deceiving the unwary and leading them astray to their own destruction. Only those who are enlightened by the wisdom which is from above can say, with the apostle Paul, “We are not ignorant of his devices.” It seems very evident that Satan is preparing the way for the final deception when he will appear upon the earth and will personate Christ. By his perversion of the truth as it is in Jesus he has largely shut out Christ from his true place in the church, substituting the appearance for the reality and the form for the power, using sweet and beautiful words about religion, but leaving out its very essence, until in many cases a profession of religion has been the cloak under which the principles of Satan could be the more successfully introduced into the higher circles of society. Thus he has in effect turned aside to himself the service which belongs to God in Christ. Soon he who “fashioneth himself into an angel of light” will manifest himself as the Light of the world, and will demonstrate his claim by many wonderful works. No mere theory of the truth will preserve us from this overmastering deception. A personal experience in the power of the truth and a daily fellowship with Christ and his indwelling presence are our only safety. We should daily pray, “Deliver us from the evil one.”

Some Simple Truths

AMONG the axioms which lie at the foundation of all dealing with quantity

are the following: “The whole is equal to the sum of all its parts.” “The whole is greater than any one of its parts.” These axiomatic truths are equally applicable to this message. The message as a whole is composed of, and is equal to, the sum of all its different parts or divisions. The message as a whole is greater than any one of its parts or divisions. The educational work, as the distinctive work of schools and colleges, did not create the message, but was created by the message. The medical work, as a distinctive department of work, did not create the message, but was created by the message. The publishing work, as a distinctive department of work, did not create the message, but was created by it. There is danger that some who become absorbed in their special department of effort, shall overlook these simple facts, and begin to think and to teach that a part is equal to the whole, or that a part has in some way become the whole. This message can never be given simply as an educational work in the ordinary meaning of that expression. This message can never be given as a medical missionary work in the ordinary meaning of that term. This message can never be given as a publishing work in the ordinary meaning of that term. The whole can never be made equal to one of its parts only. The educational work, and the medical work, and the publishing work have their place as facilities in the giving of this message, and in their place they can be a blessing in the advancement of this work, but in the attempt to get out of their place and to become the message itself they can become a hindrance instead of a blessing. It is time that these simple truths should be recognized.