“WHEN THEY SHALL SAY, PEACE AND SAFETY.”
By T.
THERE is to be a time when nearly to a man the people will be saying, “Peace and safety.” And the most remarkable thing connected with the situation is that they speak of this “peace and safety” right in the obvious presence of the most destructive dangers that the world has ever known. The evidence for the foregoing statements is based upon Scripture testimony. The Word says:— “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them; . . . and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” 1 Thess. 5: 1–4. The statements of the foregoing scripture need not be misunderstood. The “day of the Lord” is the theme under consideration. The apostle tells us that that great day “cometh as a thief in the night.” But why does “the day of the Lord” thus come as a thief in the night? The same scripture answers this question unequivocally. Read the text over again, and see how plainly it says that the reason why “the day of the Lord” overtakes them “as a thief in the night” is “for” (or because) they are saying, “Peace and safety,” regardless of the clearest evidence that “sudden destruction” is upon them. When our heavenly Father tells us of “the day of the Lord” that is sure to come, and when He gives evidence by which we may know that the time is approaching, and we scoff at that evidence, how can it be otherwise than that the great day should suddenly overtake us “as a thief in the night”? It should not be overlooked, however, that there are those whom Paul in this text calls “brethren,” and of them he says they “are not in darkness, that that day should overtake” them as a thief. Then how clearly the Word of God shows that those who are overtaken “as a thief” by “the day of the Lord” are in darkness! And refusing to come to the Light of the world, that He may dispel their darkness, they are unable to see the signs of “the day of the Lord”—the tokens of the coming Saviour. In that time of all others when they should be awake, and pointing every one to the Refuge from the impending destruction, we hear them instead repeating, in dreamy and stupefying accents, the words, “Peace and safety,” “Peace and safety.” Hence their own disregard of the plain and positive warnings from God leaves them where their doom is “sudden destruction.” It is worthy of our thought that “peace and safety” would not be talked of at the time when “the day of the Lord” is imminent, were it not for the fact that God has filled the world with signs which clearly show that the time is near. And men who are drowning themselves in worldly pleasures, unreasonably great business enterprises, or sensual gratifications of any kind, do not like to be convinced that “the day of the Lord” is at hand. Failing to allow the great truth to enter their minds that if they are prepared for “the day of the Lord” then may the highest hopes of infinite joy be realized, they prefer to cling to the unreal and unsatisfying joys of sin. And to drown the promptings aroused in their consciences by the evidence that the coming of the Lord is at hand, they make light of it, and are soothed for the time by repeating to themselves, “Peace and safety,” “Peace and safety.” What a fatal delusion! And with what awful pangs of remorse will come that “sudden destruction”! Of all the deceptions that Satan has prepared for these last days, none are more cunningly devised than this one. The Lord fairly overwhelms us with the evidence of the coming of our Master. He tells in His Word of what takes place in “the day of the Lord,” and yet men scoff at the efforts of Infinite Love, and refuse the gracious invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb of God. Not only do those who are thus saying, “Peace and safety,” ruin themselves in the “sudden destruction” that is coming, but they also turn the feet of others from the path of truth that their awakening conscience is leading them to enter. Says the prophet, “They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” Jer. 6: 14. Unprecedented storms, earthquakes, and general disturbances in nature are causing men to earnestly ask, “What does it mean?” The rising clamors of the coming revolution occasioned by the conflict between capital and labor are drawing out the question, “What great strife must the immediate future have in store for us?” Increasing crime, and the deepening and broadening stream of general social corruption and vice, are drawing from the hearts of men, as well as from their lips, the desponding query, “How long can our property, our lives, and the morals of our sons and daughters, be held secure?” In a word, the whole situation to-day, both in nature and in society, is intense in its forebodings of the coming crash. And the gathering storm-clouds of universal war, seeming to hang in momentary readiness to burst in fury over the whole world, by no means add brightness to the picture. And in full view of these conditions is it any wonder, as the Bible foretells would be the case, that there would be seen “men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” Luke 21: 26. But how cruel is the delusion of Satan by means of which he leads men to say, “Peace and safety,” in the awful presence of the “sudden destruction” that is even now hanging over our heads! And be it known to all the world that our kind Father in heaven, has foretold this evil that the great deceiver has prepared for this time. Hence there is no excuse for any one being taken by his Satanic snares. And not only has our God warned us of the “sudden destruction” into which the world is plunging, but He earnestly invites us to escape it all by taking refuge beneath His all-powerful protection. And when, in the very midst of these dangers, our Master Himself appears on the great white cloud, with what exultant and inexpressible joy will the redeemed say, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Isa. 25: 9. T.