Worldliness in the Church
It has always been true that “the whole world lieth in the wicked one,” since man fell. This does not mean that God does not have a care for it, or that He does not rule in the kingdom of men; but it means that the carnal hearts of men have yielded to the soporific influence of sin, and are lulled to sleep by the soothing narcotics of the devil. There have been many times in the past, when sin was more rampant, more manifest, slavery more cruel, vice more open and flagrant, laws and rulers more intolerant and savage than now. It is not a sign of the end or of Christ’s coming that the world is worse; the awful sad thing is that all the wickedness of the world is in the professed church of Jesus Christ, which should be the light of the world, the salt of the earth. The sins of the heathen world, named by Paul in the latter part of the first chapter of Romans, the same apostle declares will be found in the last days, among those “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof;” and, hence, the “perilous times.” The church of Jesus Christ is not only swept away by the strong tide of worldliness, but she is turning her back upon the only means of salvation from the awful end—the Bible. Let the world be as wicked as it will if the church stand steadfast to her Lord; but when the world is in the church and dominates the church, then both church and world are in a deplorable condition indeed. From such a condition God must call a people out. The reform that meets His requirements will never take place in a church wedded to the world.