The Beginning of the End
By J. W. Raymond
As far back as Feb. 22, 1846, Charles Beecher, brother of the late Henry Ward Beecher, in his dedicatory sermon of the Second Presbyterian church, of Ft. Wayne, Ind., made this statement: “Thus are the ministry of the evangelical Protestant denominations not only formed all the way up under a tremendous pressure of merely human fear, but they live, and move, and breathe in a state of things radically corrupt, and appealing every hour to every baser element of their nature to hush up the truth and bow the knee to the power of apostasy. Was not this the way things went with Rome? Are we not living her life over again? And what do we see just ahead?—Another general council! A world's convention! Evangelical alliance and universal creed!” And now let me give the reader a later statement in this line, and then call attention to the latest development in this direct line to the final result, and see if, really, the beginning of the end is not here indeed. Several years ago Dr. Scudder, of Jersey City Tabernacle, gave utterance to this statement: “The church is going into politics, and is going there to stay. Furthermore, the church is to become a powerful political factor, and will act as a unit on all great moral questions. I do not take it that the churches are to form a separate political party; on the contrary, they will stand outside all parties, but they will co-operate, and as one prodigious organization, make their demands upon existing parties and have their wishes fulfilled.” That would be Rome (the papacy) right over again, an image to the beast. And who can fail to see in the recent church federation convention in New York City, with its five hundred delegation of thirty-two denominations representing eighteen million membership—who can fail to see in this that which will bring practically the very condition of things set forth by Dr. Beecher and Dr. Scudder? And with this broad federation front now before us, who can fail to see from this religio-political barometer of the times the sure and certain incoming of the stormy time of Rev. 13: 11-17? Do we realize it? Does it stir and move us? Now the one great need is a decidedly larger measure of the Spirit of God. This once possessed, everything else needed to the going forth of the message with rapidity will be an assured thing. With the needed fulness of the Spirit there will come in light that will convince and power that will convict of truth and duty and move to action. But without this much needed one thing, all appliances will be like the well-organized and belted machine minus the steam or electrical force. It isn't numbers we need most, but a Spirit-filled membership. May we all feel this more and more. It didn't take great numbers or protracted effort to bring forth the large fruitage for heaven of the second and third chapters of Acts. Carefully read them. Assuredly those who go through and triumph in the message at last will come to know a great deal of the Spirit and power of God. May it be so with us all. And may we be so guarded and kept by the Spirit and power of God that we shall not be switched and ditched by any incoming “new light” that either dims or extinguishes the light of heaven in the fundamental and through lines of truth in the message of the third angel. May we be firmly and abidingly called to the Bible, and what we have from the spirit of prophecy, which has been in the message from its very birth among us. These are the writer's sheet-anchor to date, and he purposes they shall be to the very end. The very last message of warning and mercy is on the wing, the last generation is here and nearly run out, and the investigative judgment is in session, and current events demonstrate that the closing issue is just before us and coming with great rapidity. These considerations should stir us to the very depths. May it be so with both writer and reader, and others.