The Veneer of Society by Eliza H. Morton

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Oct 26, 1915

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 42, No. 42.

The Veneer of Society

By Eliza H. Morton

By ELIZA H. MORTON

We meet men and women casually, in the various walks of life, who appear to be courteous, kind, and obliging, and some of them really are thus; but the majority, on a close acquaintance, display a selfishness, a greed, and a desire for personal exaltation, which, to say the least, make them disagreeable companions. We learn that society manners are not an index of character. We discover, by sad experience, that “things are not what they seem.” That which causes a man or a woman to smile, to speak flattering words, and to wear the garb of a friend, may be the polish of the villain,—the veneer of society.

The saddest thing of all is that Christianity is often used as a cloak to cover wickedness. A prophecy for the last days is that “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2 Tim. 3: 13. These will have “a form of godliness,” but none of its power. Verse 5.

This condition of the world is due to the natural depravity of the human heart, which “is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Jer. 17: 9. The condition of the natural man is well portrayed in Isa. 1: 5-7. Nothing could be more loathsome than a body covered with open sores. The veneer of society may cover it, but the corruption is still there.

The only hope for the individual is Christ Jesus. He, and He alone, can change the heart,—change the current of the thoughts, and make the life truly beautiful. The measuring rule must be God’s holy law. The power must come from outside the man, even from the heavens above. When men make void God’s holy law, it is time for Him to work. They did this in the days of Noah (Gen. 6: 5), and they are doing it to-day,—changing the letter of the fourth commandment, and doing violence to other precepts. When God makes bare His arm, awful judgments will fall upon the ungodly. Men’s hearts are even now “failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” Luke 21: 26.

The veneer of society will soon crumble away, the outward polish will be removed, and the sinfulness of the sin beneath will be revealed. That individual only is safe who has a close connection with God, who is surrounded by angels from heaven, and who sets his face “as a flint Zionward.” The only sure place of refuge is beneath the everlasting wings.

Be true, O fellow man, be true, Be honest, pure, Unselfish in thy daily life! Truth will endure.