Signs of the Times by R. M. Clark

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 17, 1907

Signs of the Times

By R. M. Clark

R. M. CLARK

It is hardly possible to-day to pick up one of our many periodicals and not find one or two strong articles on the signs of the times that are appearing among the nations and people. Prophecies are being fulfilled, wars are being waged, and earthquakes rend the earth. These and many other things to-day attract the attention of our people constantly. Let us for a moment look and see if there are not some of the signs of the times in us as individuals, and then let us lay the ax at the root of this tree.

The writer recently stood before an audience of young people, and looking into their faces, this thought arose in his mind, “Surely, here are signs of the times.” They were mostly students, and although they were well dressed and intelligent-looking people, yet not more than fifty per cent of them had a clear eye and smooth complexion. There was a boil here, pimples there, acne over yonder, and dark circles under the eyes of another. Now why was this? Let me name a few of the reasons,—late hours, irregular habits, hasty eating, improper food, chocolate creams, ice-cream sodas, and cigarettes. These in all degrees of excesses are the reasons; but why are they signs of the times?

In 2 Tim. 3: 1-6 we read: “This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves;” and in Matt. 24: 37, 38, we find these words: “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” Is it not true to-day that men are “lovers of their own selves”—“lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God”? Men of to-day are in such a condition that not only an appetite for drink controls them, but also that for food. Oftentimes an outrage in diet will bring on a condition of actual drunkenness. The young lady, while she is bewailing the “luck” which gives her such a complexion, is at the very time, perhaps at 11 P. M., sitting before a bowl of oysters, or with a box of favorite chocolates in her lap, which she is emptying as rapidly as possible.

But a short time ago I stood watching a young man shave, and his face was so covered with pimples that before he had finished, it was bleeding in more than a dozen places. He often turned to me and bitterly bemoaned his fate. I ventured to suggest, finally, that if he were willing to “pay the price,” he might be as well favored as any one. He immediately said he would pay any price to rid himself of this plague. He said, “I would willingly spend my entire salary for six months to be rid of this thing.” I told him the price as best I could, and

tried to make plain to him that it was a simple working of cause and effect; that the “price” was regular hours, at least eight hours’ sleep, a simple, plain diet, free from all condiments and rich pastries, pure water for a beverage, and absolutely no wine, liquor, or tobacco. As soon as I stopped, he said, emphatically, “If I have to go through that régime to have it, I guess I’ll keep the face I already have.” And I thought, “Signs of the times.”

Think of it, my friends. Is it not sad that the things which are really best for a man are so repugnant to him? His nature is so far degenerated that his appetite has control over will power, judgment, personal comfort, and health.

How are we to escape the seven last great plagues? There are precious promises in the ninety-first psalm. Take your Bible and read them. Note especially the third, sixth, seventh, ninth, tenth, and sixteenth verses.

I wonder how many of us think that when we are having, perhaps every few weeks, an acute attack of indigestion, due to transgression of God’s laws for our physical being, with which it is our privilege to be perfectly familiar, we can claim these precious promises? Is there any one presumptuous enough to think for a moment, when he can not control his abnormal appetite long enough to obtain even a clear complexion, that he will stand in those days and see a thousand fall at his side, and ten thousand fall at his right hand? Does any one think he can make the Most High his habitation and have a body maimed, debilitated, and worn out with transgressions of the laws of this same Most High? O, but one says, “He can perform a miracle. I have faith; and when he says, ‘No plague shall come nigh thy dwelling,’ I am safe.”

Brother and sister, faith is all right, but without works it is dead. Let us have works also in this matter. Let us do our part as best we can, and as God has taught us, then claim the promises. Diligence will be rewarded. “With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.”

Let us put away these idols of the flesh; for “what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God.” 2 Cor. 6: 16. Alas, how many people to-day are worshiping at the shrine of these idols! Shall we who claim to have a message to the world worship there? Can we teach and believe in the third angel’s message and have existing in us at the same time these signs of the times?—Impossible! Let us rather glorify God in our bodies. “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Let us as Christians endeavor to do this thing, following Paul’s advice to the Romans: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Rom. 12: 1.

Washington, D. C.