Better or Worse?

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 6, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 10.

A correspondent sends us a brief report from a country paper of a sermon upon Matt. 13:31, 32: “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field,” etc. The preacher is reported to have said: “There are those who assert that the world is growing darker each succeeding year, and that we are hastening toward a final catastrophe. But the Scriptures do not teach this; neither do the signs of the times proclaim it. The mustard seed planted 1,900 years ago by our Lord has not reached the limit of its growth. It is to continue to grow, and become a tree, so that in every clime and nation the birds of the air shall come and lodge in it. When that day shall come, it shall be indicative of the putting down of sin and the reign of righteousness. . . . As the oriental birds seek the branches of the mustard tree, so shall all the nations of the earth find shelter in Christ.” The Lord taught no such doctrine. In Matthew 13 are two other parables which Jesus interpreted, namely, the parable of the sower, and the parable of the tares, but in neither of these did He even hint that wickedness would grow less. See also the parable of “the net,” the church. Read also Christ’s words in Matt. 24:11–13, 37, 38, and Paul’s picture of the last days, in 2 Tim. 3:1–5, 13. The beast who dominates the nations will be a persecutor even to the end. Daniel 7; Rev. 13:14; 15:1–3. It might be well to read the parable of this growing mustard seed in connection with Rev. 18:2. Compared with the greater light, the world is worse than ever before, and in God’s judgment, He weighs in the balance the sinning against light.