Gain and Gaiety by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Nov 10, 1904

Gain and Gaiety

By Editor

Editorial

Gain and Gaiety

THE lust for wealth and the love of pleasure are characteristics of the last days. It is because of the desire for sudden riches that the many get-rich-quick schemes find ready victims. It is because of the inordinate appetite for amusement that so many reap handsome returns from very questionable forms of public entertainment. The revelations which are now being made in the public prints of the methods employed by the rich men of to-day in heaping up their treasures ought to shock the whole people. It is certain that so many colossal fortunes were never amassed at any time in the past, and the methods employed indicate an utter disregard for all principles of justice and righteousness. There is only one explanation for this state of things. We are in the last days. And even many of the professed followers of Christ have been so completely drawn into the current of the pleasure seekers that it is difficult to distinguish them from the average devotees of fun and frolic. Gain and gaiety seem to be the chief aim of many lives. In this way many will be shut out of the kingdom of heaven. With them the passing things of this world occupy the place which belongs to eternal realities, and they utterly neglect so great salvation. How emphatic is the call for convincing testimony to be borne concerning the inestimable value of the true riches and the offer of “pleasures forevermore!” “I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich.” “How precious is thy mercy, O God! And the children of men shall take refuge under the shadow of thy wings. They shall overflow with the fatness of thy house, and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.” Such riches and such pleasures are the heritage of the Christian. Such riches will not take to themselves wings and fly away, and such pleasures will never lose their freshness. Do not be deceived by the tempter.

The Last Generation

A CAREFUL student of the Scriptures must be convinced that it is the Lord’s purpose that men shall know when the Saviour’s return to this earth is near. There are many lines of prophecy which lead up to the second advent. Some deal with the successive kingdoms up to the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of God. Some are based upon definite periods of time which extend to our own day, but all of which are now in the past. Some give certain remarkable events as signs to mark the approach of the day of God. Some describe the condition of the church and the condition of the world as indicating the nearness of the end. When all these are combined they constitute unimpeachable evidence concerning the greatest event of all the ages,—the second advent of our Lord in glory. An unprejudiced study of these prophecies leads to the inevitable conclusion that this is the last generation. There are many now living who will never see death, but will “be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” There are many more who will not die a natural death, but will be overwhelmed by the revelation of the glory which will be manifested when our Saviour shall appear. In this generation, in our day, will come those experiences of terror and of triumph which the human mind can not fully comprehend, and which human language can not fully describe. That fear which will pierce the very heart, and for which there is no remedy, will seize upon those who have not found a refuge in Christ. That joy which thrills the very soul, and for which there will be no limit, will be the heritage of the humble, faithful ones who wait for their Lord. This is a mere suggestion of what will happen in this last generation. Are you laying your plans on the basis that this is the last generation? The world will go bankrupt in this last generation. Are you investing your means in the eternal securities? Time will change to eternity in this last generation. This mortal will put on immortality in this last generation. Heavenly scenes will burst upon our view in this last generation. Spread the good news. Be ready.