THE LAST DAYS by B. F. Wise

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 10, 1879

THE LAST DAYS.

By B. F. Wise

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come; for men shall be . . . despisers of those that are good.” 2 Tim. 3: 1–3.

The present age is especially noted for its hatred of the good. It has always been thus: the evil have hated the good; and the apostle tells us that evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. He also tells us that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. It makes no difference what people may profess, he who is not with Christ is against him. It is through much tribulation that God’s people shall enter into the kingdom. They shall not reach the rest that remains for the people of God without being contemned and scorned by the world, and persons who will not serve God themselves often hate those who do.

In reading the history of the Jews, we find the same spirit manifested among them. When they apostatized, they stoned the prophets, persecuted the servants of God, and even slew them; yet they claimed to be favored children of God. Years after, when the prophet was in his grave, when he could not rebuke them, they honored him and were loud in his praise. But if a prophet had appeared, and denounced them for their sins and covetous practices, he would very likely have been stoned to death, or put out of the way in some equally ignominious manner. Those who were so loud in praising the prophets, especially referring to Abraham and Moses, when Jesus was on earth, were the very ones who cried, “Away with him; crucify him.” Because he reproved them for their hypocrisy and deadness of heart, and they could not endure his just and merited rebuke, they cried out for his blood, they hated and slew him without just cause.

The same spirit prevails to-day. We find men who speak very highly of Jesus Christ, the twelve apostles, the martyrs, and the reformers; but if Jesus and these holy men were on earth to-day, and took the same stand they did when here, they would be despised and persecuted by the very ones who praise them so much now because they are out of harm’s way. The living ones are not the favored of earth. In all ages the real servants of God have been called to withstand persecution for truth’s sake while alive. They cannot cease proclaiming God’s word and his truth, and they consequently incur the displeasure of many who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. They cannot endure sound doctrine. So long as the gentile dispensation continues, will the world love its own. Jesus said, “If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but ye are not of the world, for ‘I have chosen you out of the world.’” If a man or woman is lifted up from the depths of sin, and becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus by obeying the commandments of God, and keeping the faith of Jesus; by discarding the mythological orthodoxy of the day; by waiting for the Son of God from Heaven; by believing God’s promises concerning the new heavens and the new earth; by expecting immortality only through Jesus Christ at his coming,—he or she, as the case may be, becomes a mark for reproach, a sort of gazing stock to the community; but, unmindful of these things, the man of God is willing to suffer the reproach of the world, that he may bask in the sunlight of God’s love.

Those whose religion is only a formality are to-day “despisers of those that are good.” An upright man is not apt to be rich; for the majority of men become rich by fraud and oppression, by grinding those whom they get into their power; yet men who are rich are honored. No matter by what means a man obtains his wealth, whether by selling liquors, gambling in stock, getting up corners on wheat and crushing those who are unfortunate enough to be short, or by various other tricks that are dark and vain,—no matter how,—if a man only has wealth, the world will fawn upon and flatter him. The poor man is despised, yet it is more likely that he is the honest and generous man. The upright man follows Him who had not where to lay his head. He is a pilgrim and stranger on the earth. He looks for a city that hath foundations, and longs for the rest that remaineth for the people of God. Consequently, he has little time and no desire to become engaged with the jars and wrangles of the age, and because he will not do so, he is despised. But let him stand on the street corners, and talk Republicanism, Democracy, or Greenbackism, and traduce and calumniate those who think differently, let him buy votes with money or brandy, and that man straightway becomes honorable and popular in a worldly point of view. But because he will not stoop to such trickery, he is despised.

The man of God asks no honors that are obtained by fraud. Wealth that passes away, and that shall perish in the fires of the last day, is not to be desired. His treasure is in Heaven, from whence he also looks for the Lord Jesus Christ. His crown is laid up for him, and for all those who love our Lord’s appearing. He cannot stop for trifles; for beyond this world he sees his rest and joy. He is willing to wait for the glory that shall be revealed. Of course, by living thus in waiting and expectation, he puts himself in direct opposition to earthly things. He finds himself in a minority, and a very small one at that, because his belief and practice are not at all popular. He cares not for majorities; his ambition is to be right, knowing that righteousness will in the end have success.

He is called a fool and a fanatic by those who pass judgment, but never investigate. He is strange, peculiar. His opinions are worthless, because he has no position in society, no money; in fact, he is esteemed as nobody. But he has in mind the words of his Master, “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you.” He knows that when men are petted and popular, “first-rate fellows,” etc., they are far from the kingdom. There are foolish girls who spend on dress all they can earn or can coax out of half-ruined, indulgent fathers, so that they can make a good appearance in society, with stylish dresses, stunning hats that are neither useful nor ornamental, and all manner of gewgaws and jewelry; who are exceedingly careful of manners in public, but not so careful of morals in private; who associate with men of depraved natures and infamous characters, but scorn the man whose garments are not in style or perhaps are threadbare, or who has not a beaver hat, or a flashy chain and jewelry, or a fragrant havanna. Such girls do not consider the godly man desirable, nor are they to him; for brains and common sense are of greater importance to him than powder and paint. A meek and lowly spirit in woman is to him of great price; but such a treasure he finds not in the ranks of those who import their styles and morals from that modern Sodom, Paris.

Men who desire all manner of evil, who do not love to hear the truth, are greatly troubled and agitated because the man of God has the boldness to denounce their crimes. He is termed a busy-body; for if no one said aught against them, they could rest easier with their ill-gotten gains. Those who crush the poor, and strip him of all he has,—those who oppress, rob, and commit all manner of iniquities, fairly hate the sight of him who tells them of a Judgment to come. Of course, they have preachers who officiate in mammoth piles of brick and mortar, but they are paid to say smooth things. They do not talk about a Judgment to come; or if they do, they sugar-coat it by saying that it is a great many hundreds of thousands or millions of years hence. So their hearers think, “Well, that is a great ways off; perhaps it will never come at all.” And they are lulled to sleep in false security, and on Monday pursue their old tricks with new zeal.

The well-paid and well-fed minister is very careful not to say anything that would cause a pang of conscience. If he did, he would soon get his discharge; for the time has come when men will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts they heap unto themselves teachers having itching ears, and they turn away their ears from the truth unto fables. So, in order that the prophecy may be fulfilled to the very letter (unknown to him, however), the minister makes a beautiful prayer, and reads a short essay on “The True and Bountiful,” “The Philosophy of Religion,” “The Æsthetic Tendencies of Christianity,” or “The Difference between the Objective and the Subjective.” Perhaps he tells his hearers to contribute liberally for the poor heathen in Africa, who are in sad need of the excellent light they have on the Scriptures, and also cautions them not to forget the sociable at Bro. K.’s house. He wants them all to turn out, and have a jolly time. Of course, they turn out en masse to the sociable, and are merry; but how many attend the prayer-meeting?—Perhaps ten or a dozen, who sigh and cry for the abominations done in their midst. After another beautiful prayer, the minister dismisses these poor, misguided mortals, who go marching out to the music of the organ. The more interesting the fable, the more palatable the smoothly told lie, the higher the salary. The man who cannot bind his conscience to such proceedings, which God has never warranted, becomes an outcast, and is despised. The man who is fearless in doing right, knowing that he must give account to Him who is ready to judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, becomes a by-word and a reproach. The actions of the so-called Christian world are to him sufficient evidence that we are in the last days, and that perilous times have come, when men should be “despisers of those that are good.”

B. F. WISE.

Winterset, Iowa.