Heart Failure Through Fear
SPEAKING of the conditions that would prevail previous to His second coming, the Lord says: “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21: 25-28. This earth has been visited with calamities of various kinds during all its history. Hence those occasional disasters would not be the things to which the Master was pointing through the foregoing scripture. He speaks specifically of certain things that will “begin to come to pass”; and these things are the tempestuous conditions of sea and wave, distress among the nations, with the climax finally to be reached in the shaking of the powers of heaven. Hence it would not do to refer to occasional disasters as the fulfilment of this prophecy. The text shows that conditions of a distressing and tempestuous sort will become so prevalent that they will create perplexities among the nations, and cause men's hearts to fail them for fear as they look after the things that are coming upon the earth. We are living in times when social unrest is occasioning perplexity and distress among all the nations of the world. That unrest has manifested itself in Europe in one of the most violent and unspeakable wars that has ever stained the pages of history. But the difficulties are not confined to Europe. The conditions throughout the world are causing untold alarm. Men's hearts are disquieted; they are quailing with fear. Not only do we have these distressing social conditions, but we have occurrences with increasing frequency like this great earthquake in Italy that has destroyed so many thousands. We have storm and tempest in every part of the world. And the Master shows us, in the words before quoted, that while these conditions may be bringing distress and perplexity to the great world at large, yet they are to bring rejoicing to the hearts of those who are standing in the light of His word. The struggle with sin is about at an end. The redemption of the followers of Christ draws nigh. God is in no wise responsible for the calamities that are filling the world with distress and perplexity; but He does tell us what they mean, and assures us that we need not be filled with terrors because of them, but that we may look up and lift up our heads. All depends upon the position we occupy as to whether the conditions in the world to-day are causing the heart failures of fear, or whether we are filled with the rejoicings of the blessed hope that centers in the soon coming of Christ.