Angry Nations and Angry Men
By W. A. S.
The prophet John heard voices crying from heaven in the last days: “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged.” The very last days, then, are specially characterized by a disposition to give way to anger and irritation. The nations are angry because there is anger in the hearts of men who compose the nations. The British statesman, Lord Salisbury, stated the case when he said:— For years public opinion was in favor of a pacific policy, but now that state of opinion has passed away. The tide has turned. . . . If the tide has turned, we shall have to go with it. We are in the presence of forces far larger than we can wield. The perilous times have come, and with them the “fierce” spirit that characterizes lovers of their own selves in the last days. The tide of hate has set in. Men are impatient of restraint, and bound to have their own way. This makes angry men, and angry men make angry nations. The prophet saw the agencies of evil sowing this spirit of strife and anger—the spirits of devils going forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them together to the battle of the great day of Armageddon. As surely as we see the forces gathering for that conflict, it is a dangerous time now for us to give way to anger. The evil spirits are endeavoring to make everybody angry and irritable. The agents of evil are going abroad not only to the kings of the earth, but to the peoples of all the world. Wherever a soul is cultivating an irritable disposition, and giving way to angry passion when something crosses the will, there we see the working of the spirits of evil. The angry disposition not overcome will surely line up every one who possesses it in the devil’s side at the great day of Armageddon. Those who have seen the papers of late must have been struck with the frequency of crimes committed in a sudden fit of anger, the criminal himself confessing that there was no settled motive for the act. Something let loose the evil temper, anger unbalanced the mind, and before the culprit could recover his senses, the evil deed was done. The devil had taken full possession. No soul can safely harbor an irritable, sensitive disposition. Once let the temper be humored and nursed into a habit of irritation and anger, and the poor victim is ready to be led about a slave to the fleshly mind. There is deliverance from the angry passions of the carnal mind in absolute surrender to the love of Jesus. Then in the strength of Jesus we may fight the evil to the end. The enemy’s plan of campaign in this time is to make people impatient and cross. Against this tide of irritation that is coming in like a flood, making all the nations angry, the Spirit of God lifts up a standard. As the third angel’s message is accepted, the heavenly watchers cry, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Whenever the demon of impatience and anger springs into the life, think of the angry nations and their fate at the swift-coming Armageddon, and in the name and strength of Jesus crush down the evil thing. We have enlisted in the ranks of the patient ones.